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As a member of NATO, Hungary is "in Cao Ying's heart in Han" and maintains close relations with China and Russia. This came as a surprise to all countries, and in fact, Hungary has been misfit for a long time.
Although Hungary seems out of place in the Western camp, neither NATO nor the EU will take Hungary seriously. So, why is Hungary pro-China and Russian? What are Hungary's considerations? Why does Hungary not follow the usual path from ancient times to the present?
Hungary "left and right".
Back in 1999, Hungary joined NATO and subsequently became a member of the European Union. Unlike Western countries, Hungary has always maintained a friendly attitude towards China and Russia.
Even when the Western world was collectively hostile to China and Russia, Hungary strongly supported China and Russia, and repeatedly openly expressed solidarity and support for China and Russia in the international community. At the Belt and Road International Summit Forum organized by China in October, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban personally went to China to participate in the summit forum and delivered an important speech.
Back then, when European countries were still skeptical of Chinese vaccines under the raging epidemic, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was also the first to stand up and receive Chinese vaccines. Hungary is also the only EU country to vote for the mainland on many sensitive issues.
There is a theory in Hungary that the ancestors of Hungary came from the Xiongnu during the Han Dynasty of China, and after being defeated by the Han Dynasty, they moved to Europe and settled in Eastern Europe. Even the authorities are very much in favor of such claims. The Hungarian people also said that Hungary and China are good friends.
Not only that, but Hungary has always maintained good diplomatic relations with Russia. In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the European Union and NATO have made it clear that they support Ukraine, but Hungary does not think so, but actively engages with Russia.
At the Belt and Road Initiative, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had a good meeting with Putin. Orban is full of sincerity, and Hungary has never thought of confronting Russia from the beginning to the end. Subsequently, he expressed strong dissatisfaction with the fact that the strategic cooperative relationship between the two countries that had been reached with great difficulty was interrupted due to pressure from the West.
At the end of the meeting, the two leaders agreed to repair the cooperative relationship between the two countries as much as possible to achieve the goal of win-win cooperation. Orban also said in an interview that it is impossible for Ukraine to win, and Hungary will never allow the continued consumption of Hungarian taxpayers' money in this lost war.
At the EU summit held in mid-December, Hungary voted against it, causing the EU's plan to fund Ukraine in vain. It once caused dissatisfaction among EU member states.
Although Hungary has always maintained friendly relations with China and Russia, it does not mean that Hungary has completely torn its face with NATO and EU countries. Regardless of whether it is facing China, Russia or the European Union, Hungary's attitude of "left and right" has made it maneuver between other countries, not only has it not been adversely affected, but has maintained close relations with China and Russia to maximize its national interests.
Although the EU has also brought certain constraints to Hungary, Hungary also understands that the EU is still the most important pillar for Hungary to maintain the national economy and people's livelihood, at least for now. In other words, the EU remains Hungary's largest trading partner, and Hungary benefits the most. Hungary's smartest point is to exploit the loopholes in the policies of NATO and the European Union, which did not have a mechanism for expulsion at the beginning of their existence.
In other words, NATO and the EU cannot expel Hungary from the organization for any reason unless Hungary withdraws voluntarily and voluntarily. What's more, most Western countries are still inseparable from Russian gas, although they resist on the surface, they dare not resist under pressure from the United States.
But with Hungary, these Western countries can also more or less improve the plight of the lack of natural gas at home. The EU also has no unified reason to sanction Russia, and Hungary has become an important force in mediating relations between the EU and Russia, and things have a chance to turn around.
A flexible and pragmatic foreign policy
Judging from Hungary's foreign policy towards China and Russia, it at least proves that Hungary adheres to flexible and pragmatic diplomatic principles, allowing itself to have more paths to choose from.
Today's Russia is not the Soviet Union in the early years, and the grievances between the two countries naturally do not have to be paid by the current people. Therefore, Hungary can cooperate with Russia in a number of fields, and avoid relying too much on the United States and other Western countries, so as to let them take control.
Hungary's oil and gas are basically supplied by Russia, and if relations with Russia deteriorate, Hungary's domestic economic and social development will inevitably suffer serious losses.
In fact, Russia has a strong demand for Hungarian food, medicine and daily necessities, and the two countries have a strong desire for interests. Hungary's only nuclear power plant has also been maintained by Russia, and if Russia chooses to stop maintenance, Hungary's electricity security will not be guaranteed.
Hungary has signed one energy deal after another with Russia for 14 years, and at that time, Russia was facing severe sanctions from the West. It is clear that Hungary does not take Western sanctions seriously.
For Hungary, in addition to having a certain sense of cultural identity, the cooperation between the two countries is more like a two-way street. This is the basis of Hungary's commitment to maintaining good diplomatic relations with China.
After the financial crisis, Western countries fell into a state of economic malaise for a long time, while the East, on the contrary, showed an unprecedented development trend. Hungary naturally saw the advantages of the East, so it accelerated the pace of opening up to the East, hoping to increase exports to the East countries, attract investment, etc., and change the phenomenon of domestic economic recession.
China has undoubtedly become Hungary's best partner, the two countries have a common desire to develop their economies, and China's huge consumer market is even more difficult for Hungary to meet, and Hungary cannot refuse such a big temptation.
Hungary is particularly shocked by China's development speed, and the fields of high-speed rail, new energy, and communications have a fatal attraction to Hungary. For China, although Hungary has a small population and does not have an advantage in land area, its unique geographical location is still very important. It is an important channel for Chinese goods to enter the European continent. The two countries hit it off and established a strategic partnership as early as six years ago.
The most famous of these is China's construction of the 342-kilometer Hungarian-Serbian railway for Hungary, which is expected to be officially opened to traffic in 2025. Chinese goods will also be quickly transported to European countries by this railway, achieving a win-win situation for many countries.
Protect their own interests and rights
Fundamentally, all of Hungary's foreign policy is based on interests, but there is nothing wrong with that, after all, all countries cooperate on the premise of their own national interests.
Hungary has a very strong sense of autonomy, so it is not interested in the confrontational consciousness of the Western camp. Hungary realizes that if it blindly follows Western countries in sanctioning and excluding China and Russia, its own interests will be seriously damaged.
China's voice in the world is becoming more and more important, and it has maintained a strong momentum in the fields of science and technology, economy, and military, so choosing to cooperate with China is undoubtedly the best choice.
Facts have also proved that China was already Hungary's largest source of foreign investment three years ago, and Hungary has benefited a lot from all this, and the speed of domestic development has increased significantly. Although Western countries ostensibly resist China and Russia, they must see Hungary's vigorous and energetic development momentum, and they will also envy and hate.
Historically, Hungary has shown a different style of doing things from the Western camp. After Hungary gained independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary took the initiative to join the socialist camp, which shocked all Western countries.
Against the backdrop of the political chaos in the newly independent Hungary, the Russian Communists gave Hungary another way of thinking. In the end, the revolutionary masses led by the Hungarian Communist Party seized power in Hungary, but survived for more than 100 days due to the intervention of Western countries.
Subsequently, Hungary returned to the Western world. After the end of World War II, Hungary joined the Soviet camp and became an important part of the Warsaw Pact.
However, not long after joining the Warsaw Pact, the Hungarian leaders found that the Soviet Union had not improved its economic conditions at home, and the people's living standards had not only not improved, but were on the contrary declining.
As a result, the Hungarian people clashed fiercely with the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union even sent troops twice to calm the turmoil. It was this event that Hungary gained the favor of the West, which immediately classified Hungary as a member of the Western world after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
However, just when the West thought that Hungary would follow in the footsteps of the United States, Hungary once again reversed course and turned to cooperate with China and Russia. This greatly annoyed the West, but there was nothing they could do about it.
It has to be said that Hungary is a far-sighted country, and in the case of Western countries having to follow in the footsteps of the United States and be suppressed by the United States. Hungary has found a new way, seeing the strength of China and Russia, and turning to establish cooperative relations with the two countries to seek win-win cooperation.
It can be seen from Hungary's current decision-making that Hungary's choice to be close to China and Russia is not a blind move. It is not a consideration of immediate economic interests, but more of a choice made from the perspective of the entire historical pattern and national interests. Hungary has always tried to find its own path of development in a diversified international landscape, rather than following the footsteps of the United States.
As a peripheral country in Europe, Hungary is clearly aware that only by seeking a balance between the EU and China and Russia can it continuously improve its influence and have more initiative and voice in the international community. Strengthening close ties with China and Russia can better safeguard regional stability and security.
Therefore, Hungary's pro-China and Russian relations are influenced by many factors, but the fundamental reason lies in the fact that Hungary and China and Russia can achieve cooperation and development in terms of interests, which is in line with Hungary's national development strategy and realizes the continuous improvement of its international status.
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Resources:
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Reasonable cooperation with Russia is in the national interest - CCTV news client
Growing economic cooperation between Hungary and China – Economic Daily