Time To Rethink Hungary-Germany Relations

Although a close historical relationship exists between Germany and Hungary, relations between the two countries have not been easy in recent times. This is also reflected in this year's results of the German-Hungarian Barometer, which gauges how Hungarians and Germans perceive each other’s country. Survey findings were presented by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Nezopont Institute in both Germany and Hungary. Although the data are not heartening, there are some grounds for optimism.

Agoston Samuel Mraz, director of the Nezopont Institute, and Hermann Binkert, managing director of INSA-Consulere, present the findings of the Hungarian-German Barometer survey (Photo: MTI/Tamas Kovacs)

If we look back a thousand years, our first queen, Blessed Gisela, arrived in Hungary from Bavaria on the Danube, bringing along the Western world and culture:  architects, artists, craftsmen and monks. Since then, the history of the Germans and Hungarians has been inseparable, and we are connected by the Danube and our shared history, stressed Csaba Hende, deputy speaker of the National Assembly, at the presentation of this year's results of the German-Hungarian Barometer survey conducted by the Nezopont Institute and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

In the decade since he has been engaged in improving German-Hungarian relations, he has experienced unfavorable trends. There are some opinions that are completely out of the air and quite incomprehensible, the deputy speaker said, citing as an example the result that only 28 percent of the Germans believe that ethnic minority rights are respected in Hungary, whereas Hungary treats its minorities well.

The media in the two countries portray the other country completely differently. Most of the articles about Hungary published in the German press depict a negative image of Hungary and reflect a schoolmaster attitude.

If we want to improve our relations, we must first learn to talk to each other at eye level,

Csaba Hende pointed out.

Perhaps now is the best time in the last ten years to rethink relations,

he said, adding that this requires attention and effort.

This year's results of the German-Hungarian Barometer, which has been surveying the mutual perceptions between the two nations annually since 2017, were presented by Agoston Samuel Mraz, director of the Nezopont Institute, and Hermann Binkert, former state secretary and current managing director of INSA-Consulere, which conducted the German part of the survey.

The title of their presentation is much revealing: Alienated Friends.

First, the survey looked at how many people perceive the other nation positively. While 53 percent of Hungarians have a positive opinion of Germans, the reverse is only 42 percent, the data show.

East Germans have a much more positive attitude towards Hungarians than Westerners, while in terms of age, the elderly have the best opinion of Hungarians. In Hungary, the exact opposite is seen, with young people perceiving the Germans more positively. In the context of Budapest and rural areas, the residents of the Hungarian capital have better perceptions of the Germans.

Delving deeper into these different areas, Hungarians rate German respect for women's rights and the rights of national minorities the highest, but do not view their way of handling migration as satisfactory.

Germans have a positive view of Hungarian economic policy, but a negative view of policy regarding Ukraine.

Over the past four years, the number of Hungarians who think bilateral relations between the two countries are good has dropped, while the number of Germans who think they are good has grown somewhat. Overall, 53% of Germans and 47% of Hungarians believe Germany-Hungary relations are bad. 

The researchers identified three areas responsible for the alienation and lack of understanding between the two peoples. The first is the perception of governments. While Hungarians lay the blame almost equally on both the Hungarian and German governments for the state of relations, Germans unequivocally only blame the Hungarian government.

The second is the difference in perception of the Russian-Ukrainian war. In this respect, both sides blame the government of the other country for their differences of opinion. The situation is similar with the vision of Europe, with roughly half of the people in each country rejecting the views of the other country's leaders.

But who or what is behind this divergence of opinion? Despite methodological limitations, the two institutes have carried out a very detailed media study. During the period studied, 2206 articles about the German federal government appeared in the Hungarian press, of which 265 (12 percent) were critical. In contrast, the German press wrote 1109 times about the Hungarian government, of which 734, or 66 percent of the articles, were critical. 

Before totally burying the good relations between the two countries, there are some encouraging signs. On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall, this year's survey also asked to what extent Hungary played a role in the fall of the Berlin Wall. This was perceived very similarly by the populations of the two countries, with just over half of respondents in both countries considering this role to be significant.

"Even before the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall, Hungary was a meeting place for German families torn apart by the border, with then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl saying that Hungarians had knocked the first brick out of the Berlin Wall," recalled Michael Winzer, head of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung's Hungarian office.

Another encouraging sign was on the issue of accepting members of the other nation in certain roles. It reveals that both Germans and Hungarians are happy to work with members of the other nation, and would even let them into their families. 

Finally, in both countries, the majority of those who think it is important to deepen bilateral relations were in favor, with three quarters of people in Hungary saying so. In Germany, there has been a lot of uncertain since the collapse of the governing coalition two weeks ago, but this also represents an opportunity to change opinions in a positive direction. The new government that will take office after the elections in February will have to rethink German-Hungarian relations.

Cover photo: Agoston Samuel Mraz, director of the Nezopont Institute, and Hermann Binkert, managing director of INSA-Consulere, present the findings of the Hungarian-German Barometer survey (Photo: MTI/Tamas Kovacs)