Hunglish.orgA little information on the relationship between Hungary and its neighboring countries.
Written by Scott Savoie
Hungary and neighboring countries don’t seem to get along.
The Treaty of Trianon, which ended World War I, reduced Hungary to a fraction of its pre-war size. Large chunks of formerly Hungarian real estate were handed over to neighboring countries.
The people living there considered themselves Hungarian, spoke Hungarian, etc. They were thus hated by their new countrymen.
Nowadays, with the European Union and Schengen Agreement, you would think things are getting better, but recently there has been a heating war of words with Slovakia. New laws in Slovakia forbidding the use of Hungarian has raised the ire of Hungarians on both sides of the border.
Hungarians mostly dislike the Romanians as well. There are many historical reasons for this, too, including the fact that the Romanian army occcupied Hungary briefly after the first world war.
Nowadays, the rivalry with Romania plays out in the relatively harmless games of water polo, football, or women’s handball.
Oddly, most Hungarians harbor little resentment towards Austria, although they have plenty of historical reason to do so. Hungarians seem to have favorable opinions of Polish people as well, but, alas, these countries aren’t connected.
Hungary’s ties to the Ukraine are holding steady, although it is currently only autumn, so they haven’t turned off the gas yet.