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They wore Hungary’s flag, but don’t speak the language: What’s really happening in Hungarian ice-skating?
At the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships, Hungary’s only notable result was an eighth-place finish for the pair of Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko, which also earned them an Olympic quota. This could be celebrated as a success, as such a placement could be valuable for a small sporting nation. However, a closer look reveals that there are far more questions and problems than glory beneath the surface.
The most striking phenomenon is that none of the members of the ‘Hungarian’ team at the World Championships were born in Hungary, and only one of them, Danijil Leonidovich Semko, speaks Hungarian. According to Eurosport, he has been living in our country since he was 14 years old; he was really brought up here, so he has a real community connection with the country.
The others, however, are athletes of Russian origin who hardly ever spend any time in Hungary and do not speak the language. This contrasts sharply with the fact that, in principle, a minimum level of language proficiency is required to obtain Hungarian citizenship, even if one claims Hungarian ancestry. Yet current practice shows otherwise.
The root of the problem: it is not the athletes, but the system
Naturalisation is not a new phenomenon in international sport. Figure skating is particularly complicated in this respect, as only athletes of the same nationality can compete in pairs at the Olympics. This makes the change of nationality understandable, for example, the Germans are waiting for a skater of Russian origin to become a citizen, who has to pass a language test. The Lithuanian example is even stricter: there, a successful athlete’s application was refused. But here, it seems that different rules apply in these cases, fast-track procedures, special treatment, and minimum integration requirements.
It is important to clarify that naturalised athletes are not bad people; in fact, many of them are probably decent, hard-working athletes. Rather, the question is why and how they ended up in Hungarian colours. The current practice does not promote domestic youth education or the development of local talent, but acts as a kind of sporting “import programme”, where the federation tries to produce results with foreign athletes, even artificially.
What matters more? An eighth place or language?
While the names of athletes of Russian origin are lining up on the competition lists, there are hardly any young Hungarians in the international field. The education of young talent is taking a back seat, with talent disappearing from the sport due to a lack of motivation. The Federation’s decisions are thus endangering not only the present but also the future of Hungarian sport. The situation is similar in the field of alpine skiing, where an Austrian-born athlete represents Hungary, although he has not been naturalised by the current management. The same question arises: what will happen to Hungarian-born athletes?
The Hungarian language is not just a means of communication, it is one of the most important pillars of Hungarian identity. If the country’s national team includes athletes who do not speak its language, this is a problem not only in terms of competitive results, but also from a cultural point of view. In the long term, what is more conducive to the development of Hungarian sport? The acquisition of a quota, or the support of young people growing up in the Hungarian youth system, who really live at home, think in Hungarian and consider this country their home?
In the 21st century, it is perfectly acceptable for an athlete to find a home in another country and want to compete there. The problem is not with naturalisation, but with no real basis for it, no language skills, no community integration, just a signed piece of paper and a flag to represent in competitions. In this case, we are not talking about equality between athletes, but about creating an artificial competitive environment where homegrown talent is at a disadvantage.
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This has been going on in all sports in most countries for many years. Even the largest countries like the United States have plenty of athletes who are new to the country and barely speak English. The real issue is how to quickly and effectively integrate the best people into Hungarian culture and learn the language. From top athletes to scientists or business people, sometimes it’s good to import people and have a good program to integrate them.
I can understand that it’s a complicated issue.
I have a perhaps unusual perspective. I lived in Sweden for a year, the Netherlands for four, and Hungary on and off but mostly on for about ten.
Now, because English is my native language, Swedish and Dutch came much more naturally to me than Hungarian, which is certainly part of why I still speak those languages better.
I was lucky to have great Hungarian instructors and earnestly I spoke it better than virtually any of the people I went to university with who weren’t native speakers, but it was very difficult to get the university to actually care about it, even though it was important for communicating with and respecting patients to the greatest degree possible. It was also challenging, at least in Budapest- Debrecen was far better from my perspective- to integrate at all with the Hungarian student body and to make Hungarian friends.
It had very real implications in terms of things like being able to read patient files when necessary, too, and after the usual six years, it was challenging on some level to compare the educational experience that foreign and non-foreign students had in terms of how things integrate and build sequentially on each other.
Of course, for the vast majority of students who attended from other places, the goal wasn’t naturalization- it wasn’t for me either- but then, neither was it in Sweden or the Netherlands- but from the standpoint of the Hungarian and English (and possibly German although I can’t honestly speak to that as I had little interaction) programs being accredited to get the same degree so that the licensure is the same, it presents a real challenge.
Hopefully the situation is better now, I haven’t been back in about a year, but it was a frequent topic of concern that I expressed to many.
Hungarians can and should be proud of their wonderful language, but I earnestly wish it felt like they were more willing to share it sometimes.
Personifies, in the commentary “of Quality” contributed by Evan Johnson, that “hits” me personally again, that post 1989 on, the standard of EDUCATION right throughout the system in Hungary has NEVER “grown” with the times of change – of on-going evolving emerging Europe.
It remains locked into a “time day” of the past, greatly effected through the years of 1945-1989 under Governance of Russia.
Clinton Bill was correct in saying that Hungarians just find DEMOCRACY to difficult to understand and practice.
My profession in Law – English my “tongue” living in Budapest, Hungary years, never wishing to become fluent in the Hungarian language, my EDUCATOR role – Emeritus – Professor at Law specialising in International Law, the hundreds of students I have EDUCATED, it never ceases to amaze me, the gargantuan number, entering University from private & state schooling senior facilities, the depth of there un-preparedness in number academically not of intellectual standard to be TRUELY or rightful for them, accepted to “read” or study Law.
My experience a trend is a “narrow mindlessness” a one directional approach in the “way of life” that the basics of studentship junior and senior school, family home environment, numbers with Grand-parents living with them, the ability to be VISIONARY – Creative – dominates they thinking there outlook on life, that SMOTHERS or “blinds” them in the planning the thinking capabilities of there FUTURE.
Generational – go back to pre the First World War – then on to 2025 – the horrendous un-settling of no true stability in Hungary, the war years of there involvement being victims that is dominated by being Governed under COMMUNISTIC values that don’t allow – don’t ENCOURAGE “visionary” thinking, but “sets in stone” – in DNA as is the case of Hungary – this “Closed” mind mentality that is not helped by the overall low quality and standards of NO encouragement out of junior and senior schooling EDUCATION.
Education – opens WINDOWS of Opportunities.
Wow – who is going to DRIVE the muchly NEEDED change of Hungary, that sees this country descending in Education, as a country Hungary – out of the “Darkened” abyss – it has been Taken Delivered – by its present “tyrannical” leader – Orban Victor and his Fidesz Government ?
Citizenship & residency & calling oneself Hungarian : The new rules being planned that state requirement to integrate into Magyar culture, learn the language, pass knowledge test in Magyar….this will take care of the issue of who can wear the Red White & Green of the Hungarian flag in any sport or competition (beauty, chess etc) when representing Hungarians on the world stage. There has to be a rule of equally treating people who have lived in and want to stay living in and contributing to Hungary.