May 26, 2023 – 07:07
Géza Jeszenszky, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Antall government, former American, Icelandic and Norwegian ambassador, was a guest of Téma. With Gergó Brückner, they discussed the storms of current Hungarian foreign policy, neighborhood policy, the V4, the past, current challenges, and possible future of Polish-Hungarian relations.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the increasingly frosty diplomatic situation with neighboring countries has become a hot topic in Hungary. The special attitude of the Hungarian government, its perceptibly friendlier relationship with Russia compared to everyone else within the Euro-Atlantic bloc, did not change significantly even after Putin invaded Ukraine. However, this comes at a price, they can easily attack the relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which have been built up over decades and which the Orbán government previously said were particularly important.
Recently, Direkt36 wrote a detailed article specifically about the deterioration of Polish-Hungarian relations, in Téma the conversation was about this and Hungarian foreign policy in general with Géza Jeszenszky, who recently appeared on Transtelex with an opinion article on Hungarian-Romanian relations. The podcast discusses:
- As Minister of Foreign Affairs, his aim was to improve the relations between the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe, what do you think about the fact that now Hungary seems to be completely isolated?
- What kind of dilemma does the orientation of Hungarian neighborhood policy represent continuously since the regime change due to the legacy of Trianon?
- How did the creation of the V4 alliance try to counter the creation of a possible “new kisantant”?
- Could Viktor Orbán realistically count on the fact that the special foreign policy and Russia-friendliness granted to them within the V4 since 2010 would remain sustainable after February 2022 without alienation from their neighbors?
- Why does Jeszenszky find closer friendship with authoritarian, eastern states outrageous, and why does he not see that this would even be economically worthwhile for Hungary?
- How long would it take to restore a more favorable international perception of Hungary in the West? Where would there have been points since the outbreak of war where it could have been beautified?
- Could it be that a new East-Central European federal system will now be created, but without us? In which direction are our former close partners oriented, how do the Poles, for example, put aside their former grievances against Ukraine, and why is this a dangerous competition for Hungary?
- Will they find common ground with his son, Fidesz influencer Zsolt Jeszenszky, at least on basic foreign policy issues? What do they do together? Is he still doing his favorite hobby, skiing, at the age of 81?
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