Why Hungary Helps Russia

Into Europe: Hungary has been cozying up to Russia and China, and drifting away from the West due to its ailing economy, can this alignment help buy it time?

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[YugoslavForever]

"record high inflation"
i don't know about *that* one...
*1946 flashbacks*

[ten_tego_teges]

As a Pole I really scratch my head when I follow Hungary's moves. On one hand we have a similar, confrontational attitude towards the EU, so we are thrown in the same basket by many observers.

However, Poland has been consistently detaching itself from Russia and alerting European partners about the danger it poses. In face of Putin's aggression we have supported Ukraine and lobbied for sanctions. Hungary does the exact opposite and Hungarians are relatively pro-Russian compared to the rest of the region.

It baffles me, since Hungary literally had an anti-communist uprising quashed by the Soviet Union in 1956. There are a lot of people today in Hungary that remember Soviet tanks driving into Budapest. How did they turn around to ambivalence towards Russian imperialism is beyond me.

[alehaim]

As I am currently reading Why Nations Fail, Hungary's situation seems to resemble so much of an extractive system where the wealth is funneled to an elite. Considering the fact that an extractive system lacks the ability to sustain economic growth on its own, and that Fidesz is running out of options for where to draw wealth from without switching back to an inclusive economic system that would come at the expense of the businessmen and Fidesz which all benefit from the extractive model that htey have built, I see no way that Fidesz will be able to save Hungary's economy and that the Fidesz elite will rather bring down the country than give up their privileged position.

[doman]

As a Hungarian I can tell that we are def not doing the right things, but also we had ties with Russia for far too long and giving that up now would make us stand alone. Hungary is such a beautiful county, if only politics wouldn't be a matter to look at.

[lucakarsai]

As a hungarian, its really intereeting, how everyone see the problems, expect us...

[alfoldmapping]

As a Hungarian, I have to inform, that it is very unlikely, that Orban become allies with China while it is literally impossible, that Hungary and Russia has any positive relations currently. That's because Russia put Hungary to Russia's Unfriendly Countries List and if a country is on that list, that country is hostile towards Russia and to it's citizens - according to the Russian government. Also, most of Hungary's trade is dependant on trades with the EU or the USA, so if Orban would turn away from them, Hungary's economy would be immediately in crisis. Many people think, that Orban and Hungary is pro-Russian, but this is more complicated, than it seems. Orban is not pro-Russian, he has other goals. During his now 13-year-long rule, Orban eridicated democracy from Hungary, most of the media-outlets here are in his hands. He uses the media to brainwash millions of Hungarians and manipulating them with false statements, that the West is the enemy, while Orban steals all the public money and enrich himself and his oligarch friends. He does this for years. He doesn't care about Russia, he doesn't care about the West, he doesn't care about Hungary, he only cares about, how he can manipulate others inside and outside of Hungary and then take all the benefits and enrich himself and his oligarch friends. This is the real truth.

[davidbalica]

I also read that many industries in western Romania are now hiring Hungarians. Romania is growing very fast anyways, just overtook Portugal and Croatia at GDP purchasing power parity, per person. Couple this with Hungary's descent and you have many Hungarians who are now moving over there.

Many Hungarians also come to Romania now to do their daily shopping, all sorts of facebook groups which see people organise themselves into daily trips to Transylvania to buy goods they simply can't find anymore / can't afford. Unbelievable turnaround from 20 years ago.

[WhiteOak]

It is important to note that the Chinese battery factories being built in Hungary are not an example of foreign investment: they are being very heavily subsidized by the Fidesz government, who are looking at them as a strategic investment. Those factories represent another massive expenditure from the Hungarian government for very little gain. The battery factories are going to be worked in by foreigners, too, as Hungary does not have enough workers to fill them.

[Paris]

I have been to Hungary very often. On my last trip last year l was shocked by the high prices of everything. Hungary has never been a rich country but now poverty is everywhere with western european prices that post communist salaries can not match. Homelessness has skykyrocketed. Going to the Czech Republic after some days in Hungary helps understand the situation. Just cross the border and you will be amazed by the gap. One country is moving forward, the other is going backward to the post communist era.

[HUNVilly]

1:33 If you are showing Hungary's automotive locations, you should have included the Suzuki plant in Esztergom.
Also Győr has Audi, not Volswagen.

[tamastacsi]

It is ridiculous to say that Hungary is helping Russia by buying Russian oil and gas, because then it can also be said that Ukraine is helping Russia by transporting it to Hungary.

[tiborbede]

Good summary! Hungarian farmer here. As you showed on the graph after the comunism the economy was horrible. It was only prosperous when he came on power with his way. Many people saw the flaws of the system but there were progress never like before only depression and stagnation. The whole home industry was sold to foreigners after the comunism within a few years. We became an only import market for decades. The main reason for this Tug of War i think is that the "government" wants the economy driving companies "back" and the western based companies dont want to loose their well paying markets (why would they? So the government tries to rule them out with their tools) These reclaims were funded from the EU funds partly thats why they stopped it so we fell partly back in the post-comunism era where there are expenditures and anxiety.
Sad to see this we should work togeather on the bigger problem of the Europe's free falling global influence and declyning population.
At least there is a "bad guy" for every politician who can be blamed

[Akitlosz]

Hungary helps itself. And not fail. Germany, Russia, and China also have a strong interest in Hungary's success. And Turkey too. The new German Rheinmetall KF51 Panther tank will also be manufactured in Hungary.

[robertkaroly]

When I started working in an Austrian-owned factory after EU accession, I immediately had to meet higher expectations for a third as much pay as the Austrian staff, while strategic sectors of Hungarian agriculture were privatised to Western companies who then systematically dismantled them. But at that time I could meet young Germans at Hungarian music festivals, going on world tours on social welfare if I could afford to go on the handouts I earned from the Western multinationals. I remember when I had to start work at midnight on the 20th of August, the day of the foundation of the Hungarian state, or when in December, due to an influenza epidemic, many of my colleagues worked with fever and sickness, so as not to lose the insignificant bonus that was tied to sick leave. The only other time I had anything to do with EU subsidies was once, when I took a training course with the support of the Hungarian employment centre to increase the income of an Austrian training company, so that I could get a job with a Western multinational. These are the things that make most Hungarians not have to think too much about who blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.

[regenytarmovies]

Hungary helps itself. Oil, gas, and nuclear fuel come to them from the Russians, it is not possible otherwise. There are geographical and physical reasons for this. Hungary ensures that the Czechs, Slovaks and others continue to receive vitally important Russian gas. The USA cannot trigger this, nor does it intend to. The USA has bought a huge part of Ukrainian farmland, so it will not give it up. These are the facts.

[wile]

"hmm let's trade with the country that we have a bunch of sanctions against in the EU market"
Orban really is a smooth brained individual.

[cnccarving]

let me pointing out, that the so called help from west wasnt helping the industry but creating cheap shops for the western companies

germans basically built shops on hungary and taking all the profits could arise from those plants, or shops

hungary were much better position using those plants making parts or asesembling freely to any other countries, not locked into german cars
here in usa german cars has many competitors and honestly german cars arent better but same level
just be realistic

[Csabika]

The original video is in English so I will write in english, . Let's talk about it from a little bit different viewpoint.I am a hungarian, born and grew up here. Then I moved to live in London for 10 years. In the beginning i thought i might settle there forever. Now, I'm back in Hungary, Budapest and I plan to stay forever. I see many similarities between so called advanced nations and Hungary, in fact I felt almost as if i didn't even move back, people speaking all kinds of languages on the streets and everywhere, plenty of young and hard working people in the cities and a somewhat older rural community in what increasingly start to look like ghost towns. Also, rising unaffordable housing prices, not enough high quality, good paying jobs, declining demographics, steady decline in living standards, general apathy and dissatisfaction, growing mental problems, healthcare on the edge of collapse in many cases, fearmongering by politicians, painting foreigners as enemies and pushing the blame onto outside factors for every unpopular decision that is made. Now onto the point. I am no expert but in my opinion this is what happens when economics get out of hand and gets way too much importance and we start to focus on companies and business as if the only path to reach a happy and content life was through making (infinitely) more money. It is true that money won't always make you happy, but if you don't have it for the things you need, it's hell of a pain in the ass. So i guess we are becoming so efficient in focusing on the hyperprofitability of everything that we lost sight of what we, as a people actually need and have no purpose as a collective other then maximising output in euros(or pounds and forints :D). You can bet it worked well in Hungary to change from planned economy(being part of the Eastern Socialist Bloc) to western style market economy starting from 1991 - in the year when i was born - becuase since then we came out of poverty and filled are shelves with many great products and since then Hungary has reached 9th most complex economy in the world. Looking at this then we can obviously see that solely concentrating on economic and political unions are not going to live long because it makes cooperation transactional and rely on interests. This is as much a flaw of the EU with its western ideas, as it was with the old soviet ideas. We should rather focus on finding friendships and partners along cultural lines. On this topic I have one observation that I thing has made me wiser over the years. No matter how hard we try, our transgenerational traumas and history, food and music is what makes up a big part of our identities. Becuase of the jobs i was working in London i was interacting with dozens, or hundreds of people daily. Made friends with many interesting poeple with widely different backgrounds, but one thing stayed constant. the more to the east one came from, the easier it was to became close frends, and the more west the higher the ratio of people who even tho they asked me where I was from and what i was like, the less genuinely disinterested they were. An example that I heard thousands of time now; "heey! where are you from? - Hey! I'm from a small town in Hungary. - Aww! Hungary, goulash!" and the conversation was virtually over there, not because I was not open for more, but because they just didnt give a damn. On the other side the same conversation started went so far with polish, portugese, spanish, indian, sri lankan, cape verden, irish, scotish, south african. Of course there were a few exceptions, and i became really good friends with people born and raised in Edinburgh, Cork, an London but I am the saddest to say that it does not matter that I learned english in school for 12 years before I moved to the UK, and I only kept improving during my time in the UK, was summoned for and served my jury duty, and I went to school there to educate myself further, I was never really accepted or felt particularly welcome there. So in the end, after studying for my citizenship exams, and already acquiring a residence card many years earlier, which was later made invalid after brexit, having to apply again for settled status which i got, I decided i didn't really want to become a British citizen. What am i trying to say with all of this? Well, how many times did i mention any of the other EU countries in this long story of mine? You can count it on one hand, and that is the real reason why Hungary and Orban "helps" Russia, or rather just takes the best deals of the month from a business/political standpoint. There is no real unity in the Union, except for cold hard economic projects...so don't be surprised when there is no unity in ideological questions with such a gaping abyss of common culture, where i bet that 90% of the europeans if asked, couldn't give a unified answer to what it means to be a european citizen.

[manwiththeredface]

As a Hungarian I see no light at the end of the tunnel. We're dependent on NATO arms, Russian oil and gas, and now Chinese money as well. Eventually something's got to give and when that happens we will be in a state of disarray. Meanwhile the people eat up the propaganda about us "going our own way". There's no going our own way since 1956, that's the sad truth. We went our own way for a few days and we were crushed and humiliated violently for it.

[SGON]

To be fair, the economic modell of the whole region has run its course, being an assembly line for German manufacturers can only get you so far. And that far is the middle income trap. This applies to all the former Soviet bloc countries, more or less. Another big problem is, if the engine of the EU, Germany dies, what will be left? Because the German and European economic model was based on cheap Russian energy. Now that seems to be not an option anymore for most European countries where globalist and ideologically posessed politicians are in power, Orbán is clearly pragmatic and wants Russian energy because it's cheaper than American LNG and also because Hungary has no other option really. This angers Brussels of course and Hungary has to pay the prize for its separate policy towards Russia as Brussels is punishing Hungary by withholding EU funds citing corruption issues, but it's obvious that these things are connected, none of these disputes started yesterday, they date back to Hungary's separate migration policy. Fundamentally it is a sovereignist-globalist clash and the same dinamics can be seen now in many other EU countries play out, Sweden, Netherlands, France, even Germany, everywhere sovereignist parties are winning or growing their influence.

Also there is corruption in the EU elsewhere, but it never really gets exposed the way Hungarian corruption seems to be always in a spotlight; maybe because those other countries toe Brussel's line carefully and don't rock the boat as much as Hungary does, not to mention there is petty corruption in Eastern Europe, but the industrial grade corruption that exists in Western Europe is rarely reflecting a bad light on the countries where it happens and is usually quickly swept under the rug (Dieselgate, Libor scandal or Deutsche Bank's various scandals). Has anybody ever heard Germany being called a corrupt country because Volkswagen cheated on emission tests or Deutsche Bank laundering Russian money and evading sanctions? Yeah, neither have I. The EU itself seems to be prone to corruption, Qatari bribe money found way into some European Parlament members' pockets and then there's the president of the EU Comission, Ursula von der Leyen's shady backdoor sms dealings with Pfizer we still know basically nothing about. I also have a hard time believing Hungary has a worse reputation when it comes to corruption than, say, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania or Ukraine for that matter that is being shoveled billions nevertheless by the EU.