Hungary’s unlikely connection to the Nordics

It is no surprise that almost all European countries have the same certain similar patterns. This is due to several reasons. First of all, this is because of the common region, and then it is all about the history of the countries. Most of the countries have had a connection at least in the past, and of course, one huge thing that unites them is the European Union. This is the uniting point in current history.

Although several existing reasons, some of the countries are connected and look like each other more than others. One of the most popular comparisons is Hungary and the Nordic countries. The Nordic countries include Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Finland. The most of the similarity though comes with Hungary and Norway.

Details matter

We all know the importance of the languages and the languages according to the families. This is the pattern that is used the most while comparing the countries. The type of the language the Hungarian and some of the Nordic people speak is the Finno-Ugric language. Though they come from one origin, those two languages are very distant from each other.

It is also no surprise to know that despite being neighbors, Norwegian people do not outstand with the specific love towards Hungarian people.

This may be due to history and due to the people as well.

Despite many similarities or differences between the countries, when there is one common problem, most of the countries tend to unite, in order to come up with a valid solution. This happened to the Nordic countries when they started cooperating with Hungary, in order to promote green Europe and to stress on some serious environmental problems. The case was, back in 2017, when the Nordic countries together with Hungary promoted the green economy within the countries.

All of the Nordic countries and Hungary participated in the initiative. Hungary was the first to take a step forward, and the minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade cooperated with the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden in Budapest. The Embassy of Iceland hosted the event in Vienna. The business conference was held in 2017 and the main theme of the conference was the Financing sustainability projects in Hungary. Some of the essential topics were discussed during the conference. The topics included Green transports, smart cities, greed district heating, and sustainable building and construction. Some of the solutions, such as e-mobility, digitalization, waste-to-energy, gree electricity, and geothermal energy consumption were outlines.

The problems that have been highlighted in the conference stood as a common ground for all of the participating countries.

Despite the differences in the revenues and the quality of life, all of the countries still had the same issues to tackle. The conference was led by Hungary’s State Secretary on behalf of the 2017 presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Some of the additional meetings were held. The conference was a clear example that does not really matter what are the differences, there certainly are some of the similarities within the cultures and people.

Industries

While talking about similarities and differences between countries, we should address some of the industries that are actively operating within the countries.

One of the major sectors is gambling. Gambling is one of the biggest industries in the world not only in any of the countries. In terms of gambling, Nordic countries are definitely leaders in the industry in the region. Norway is one of the dominant countries in the European gambling market overall. Casinos in Norway have thousands of active users and the tendency is even increasing with acknowledging the fact that the market is increasing as well. There are some of the best casino bonus offers in Norway designed specifically for this country, as local players prefer to have their rewards somehow associated with the local culture. A similar pattern can not be seen in Hungary. Despite the fact that online gambling is legal within the country, it still has not reached half of the popularity level as in Norway.

Another industry that needs to be addressed in the innovations sector. Hungary is a developing country, while most of the Nordic countries are first world countries. This means that Hungary has a certain room for development until reaching the level of the first world country. Thus, Hungarians have introduced a lot of startups and a lot of innovative technologies to the worldwide public. The Nordic countries have been developing the technologies and implementing them in different sectors.

The next field is education. One of the highest education levels is in the Nordic region. In the Nordic countries, schools have almost everything that awakens the desire of studying.

Most of the schools are equipped with the latest technologies and some of the schools have adopted very innovative methods of learning.

The tourism industry. Budapest specifically, is one of the top destinations for tourists. It is relatively cheap compared to other European countries. The architecture is eye-catching and Hungarian people are pretty welcoming. The tourism industry is one of the main industries for Hungary, and they are performing pretty well in those terms. This usually does not apply to the Nordic countries. Most of the Nordic countries are the most expensive countries for the tourist and it is not often a choice for vacation or the Euro trip. Thus, those countries really have some must-see the place, but maybe with slightly higher budget trips.

Standing in-between

It has been said and approved by the research that Hungary is quite similar to Nordic countries, and at the same time mentally similar to the Scandinavian countries. Well, as everything else this also has specific reasons. Hungary has a pretty strange place in Central-Easter Europe. There are many cultural differences surrounding the country. On one hand, there are German-speaking Western neighbors as well as Slavic countries all around.

The reason can lie in history.

Communism is a period that has affected all of the countries around the world.

Neither Nordic countries, nor Hungary was the exception. It was the only Eastern Bloc country, where Socialism actually worked. It was also the richest East Bloc country by that time.

Even while digging deeper into the past, some of the similar cultural parallels can be drawn between the Nordic countries and Hungary. The culture is pretty similar. Hungarians are introverts just like Nordic people. They even tend to have similar living habits. For example not having a close relationship with the neighbors or third party people. They are quiet during the ordinary days but can be very loud during the festivals and weekends.

There is the cult of “traditional family values”, which are strictly followed by both the Nordic people and Hungary. The values that stand for family and emotions are very valuable. Just like many European countries, every human right is the common value and should not be breached at any point.

Social services work pretty well and the situation with the addictions towards different types of drugs or alcohol has improved drastically for the past several years.

There are almost no taboo topics while conversation. Nudity, sex talks, breastfeeding, gender neutrality are quite discussed subjects in society, which indicates the level of education at some point.

Overall, there are many similar patterns between the Nordic countries and Hungary, as well as there are many differences. Certain patterns are due to the history and the historical connections, while others are due to the unions and common markets the countries have been operating for decades.