Meeting with Ambassadors: Hungary

Thursday 17. December 18:00 - 19:15
Location: DGAP, Berlin

 

What are the reasons for the increase in votes for Hungarian rightists during the European elections 2009 and what can the government do to stop this development? Does the voting behaviour of the Hungarians reflect a Europe critical attitude in general? And why did the financial crisis hit Hungary so severely? These were the main questions discussed by the ambassador of Hungary H.E. Dr. Sándor Peisch, Dr. Gereon Schuch, head of the “Center for Central and Eastern Europe of the Robert Bosch Stiftung” in the DGAP and János Can Togay, head of the “Collegium Hungaricum Berlin”, on December 17th in the DGAP. The “Meeting with Ambassadors” is a cooperation of Inforadio Berlin-Brandenburg with the DGAP and takes place once a month.

Ambassador Peisch said that it is easier for right-wing extremists to catch votes by the help of populism during the economic crisis. “Of course, I am worried about the future of the country”, Peisch stated. According to him, the government has to create perspectives for the people to stop the right-wing extremist’s upswing.

According to DGAP-expert Gereon Schuch, the Europe-critical voting behaviour of the Hungarian people is based on the current situation of the country: “I feel optimistic, that the actual pro-European attitude of the Hungarians will remain in the long run.” János Togay said that conflicts can be solved easier due to the membership in the EU. For instance, the controversy between Hungary and Slovakia in August 2009 was easier to pacify with help of EU.

The critical economic situation is not only based on mismanagement of the country but also on the Hungarian’s style of living, Ambassador Peisch said. It is human that the people of Hungary wanted to live better lifes after the fall of the Iron Curtain and therefore ran into dept. “The Hungarian society is a deeply corrupt one”, Togay said.  The financial crisis illustrates that many decade old problems of the society have not been solved, he stated. According to him, there is a lack of trust into politics and economy, which leads to mistrust and fraud among the people.

Since January 2007 Inforadio Berlin-Brandenburg records the radio broadcast “Weltsichten. Inforadio ganz international – Die Botschaftermatinée”. Every four weeks Sabine Porn welcomes a different German-speaking ambassador and two other guests and talks about the country as well as its people, politics, culture and history. The conversation will be broadcasted on Sunday, December 20th, at 11.05 am. It is also available on www.inforadio.de. The next event will take place on January 12th, topic is Croatia.

For further information on Hungary, please contact Gereon Schuch: schuch@dgap.org.