$Unique_ID{COW01631} $Pretitle{365} $Title{Hungary The Foreign Policy of the Republic of Hungary} $Subtitle{} $Author{Embassy of Hungary, Washington DC} $Affiliation{Embassy of Hungary, Washington DC} $Subject{hungarian hungary relations foreign european policy cooperation economic countries europe} $Date{1990} $Log{} Country: Hungary Book: Hungarian-US relations Author: Embassy of Hungary, Washington DC Affiliation: Embassy of Hungary, Washington DC Date: 1990 The Foreign Policy of the Republic of Hungary The Republic of Hungary pursues an independent foreign policy in which national interests take priority. It is currently carrying out a change in its socio-economic system and restoring the full sovereignty of the country in a favourable international climate. Just as Hungary's domestic policy has undergone changes, so its foreign policy has also changed tack. This shift in the orientation of both foreign and external economic policies is in the vital interest of the nation. Hungary is committed to pluralism and democracy. It is open to Europe and the world, and has a strong interest in furthering European unity and integration, sharing, as it does, European culture and traditions as well as the political, legal and economic order of values. Foreign political targets Hungarian foreign policy gives priority to obtaining full membership of the European Communities. Associate membership of the EC can be considered an important, though only a temporary solution. The advantages and obligations associate membership will bring will help Hungary become a full-fledged member within the foreseeable future. The country's admission to the Council of Europe, scheduled for the end of 1990, is a recognition of the fact that the Hungarian system of political and legal institutions and the high standard of implementation of human rights in the country are in line with the requirements of political traditions in Europe. The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary by June 30, 1991, laid down in the agreement between the Hungarian and Soviet governments, is a prerequisite for restoring full national independence. By the same token, Hungary has to revise its relationship with the Warsaw Treaty Organization and ensure that the country's security will be guaranteed in the longer term by a pan-European defence system rather than by membership of a military alliance. Hungarian diplomacy is already making active cooperative efforts along these lines. The changes in Central-Eastern Europe make it inevitable that the existing interestate agreements with the countries in the region will have to be revised and new agreements on political, economic, cultural and human rights and humanitarian relations worked out. National security is subject to both external and internal conditions. The change in the international environment and the new foreign policy objectives mean Hungary will have to adopt a new military doctrine as soon as possible and restructure the armed forces accordingly. European relations Europe is the key area of Hungarian foreign policy and the region where Hungarian diplomacy directs most of its efforts. Now that the continent is no longer divided and the Cold War is at an end, and because of the changes in Central-Eastern Europe, a single European-North Atlantic region is emerging where the political, economic and social systems are governed by shared principles. This enlarged community of values has increased the chances of strengthening democracy and creating a social market economy to an extraordinary extent. In the process of external and internal transformation, however, Hungary also counts on support from states outside this region under the various programmes of assistance and aid offered by the Group of 24. The actual implementation of the programme of support adopted in 1989 is still at the initial stage at the moment, but however indispensable the offers of aid, credit and cooperation schemes may be, Hungary still has to realise it will have to rely mainly on its own strength in order to get its economy back on its feet again. Given the extent of foreign debt and the degree of economic and social backwardness the country is in, this will impose enormous burdens on Hungarian society in its quest to catch up with Western Europe. Hungary must make those countries which have offered assistance aware of the plight the national economy is in, and of the incalculable risks that could accompany the switch-over from a planned economy to a market economy, a road which no country has ever travelled before. Admission to the Council of Europe opens a new chapter in relations between Hungary and the advanced European countries. Hungary already meets the requirements of membership. Accession to the conventions adopted by the Council of Europe and compliance with the European standards these lay down, call for further legislative efforts. Hungarian foreign policy attaches great importance to associate membership of the European Communities. The country realises that such a relationship will also allow scope for cooperation in other than economic fields. The Hungarian view is that it is in everyone's interest to have exchanges of opinion and coordination with the EC on issues of foreign policy as well as in agreed or joint statements of position on the vital issues of Europe, particularly as regards political and economic security. Hungary feels that concluding the association agreement in 1991 and putting it into effect as of 1992 are realistic goals. In the second part of the 1990s, the Hungarian economy could then, with EC support, become capable of full membership. The Hungarian Government has informed the Commission of the European Communities of its intention to join the EC. Change in system and European integration The change in system, withdrawal from the Warsaw Treaty Organization, and possibility of establishing an East-West partnership have brought about a radical shift in Hungary's relationship to NATO. The Hungarian Government was the first to establish direct relations with that organization. The conditions are also there for Hungarian MPs to participate in the work of the North Atlantic Assembly as special invitees. It will likewise become possible for Hungary to participate in a similar capacity in the activity of the Western European Union. The end of confrontation in East-West relations and the quest of cooperation based on partnership have prompted NATO to reappraise its role and activity. The transformation process may enable the Western military-political alliance to assume greater responsibility for European security. Hungarian foreign policy backs such a change in the role of NATO. It takes the view that establishing relations and cooperation between NATO and the East European countries may bring a favourable influence to bear on the security of this region. Cooperation with the advanced European countries has a determining role to play in promoting the growth of the Hungarian economy and the technological development of the country. The association agreement with the European Communities will ensure free trade and the free flow of individuals, services, and capital. Hungary also seeks to sign a free trade agreement with the EFTA member states. Establishing cooperation with these two integration organizations will give Hungary free access to the single Western European market and the European Economic Area to be created. Since its indebtedness allows the Hungarian economy to obtain only limited amounts of foreign credit, it is particularly interested in foreign investments. Nearly 2,000 joint ventures or foreign enterprises have been established in the country so far with the involvement of international capital to the tune of $800 million. The COCOM restrictions on the import of high technology needed for changing the economic structure in the country still pose palpable problems. The Hungarian Government is working to create the political, legal and economic conditions for the gradual removal of these obstacles. The changes in system in Central-Eastern Europe and the process of disintegration of the WTO and the CMEA have radically changed the pattern of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the countries of the region. As a first step, Hungary is seeking to streamline bilateral economic relations with these states. Two-way trade will be stabilized by a switch-over to convertible accounting. Genuine multilateral economic cooperation, however, cannot be brought about until after market economies have been created in the countries concerned. Interlinking the East European economies is in the common interest, but is something which can only be achieved under a pan-European economic integration. Minority policy Hungarian foreign policy attaches growing importance to minority policy, the main goal of which is to see that human rights, including the individual and collective rights of minorities, are observed. Since one-third of the Hungarian nation lives beyond the country's borders, the Hungarian State has a special responsibility to support the survival of the Hungarian nation as an ethnic and cultural community. International law and international agreements do not yet provide sufficient guarantees for the protection of ethnic minorities. The greatest progress in this respect is the political commitments made at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Hungarian diplomacy is striving to ensure that the protection of minorities is guaranteed under international law, and that this question is regulated by bilateral agreements with the countries in which a considerable Hungarian minority lives. The CSCE meetings are an ideal place for working out the principles of a European minority policy and a system of control over the observance of those principles. Once the norms of minority protection have been adopted, the protection of minorities may well become a European interest, and thus have solidarity of European standards to rely on. Only recently did Hungary get the chance to participate in a special regional cooperation scheme. The whole structure of Europe is being transformed by the dismantling of blocs. In a Europe on the way to unification, states have a better chance of getting their interests affirmed as members of a regional grouping. The emergence of regional groupings in the process of pan-European cooperation tends to facilitate and accelerate the unification of Europe. Similarly, Hungary's participation in regional cooperation serves to facilitate a shift in the orientation of foreign policy and the external economy. Regional cooperation It was in 1989 that Hungary, Austria, Yugoslavia and Italy decided to establish a regional cooperation scheme. The scheme was joined by Czechoslovakia in 1990. One of the main things Hungarian foreign policy expects of the Pentagonale, as this five-sided cooperation scheme is known, to facilitate its entry into the West European integration, and in particular, the development of relations with the European Communities and EFTA. Hungary also feels the Pentagonale will become a factor of stability in the region. This regional cooperation scheme embraces all important areas of international relations with the exception of security policy for the time being. Centuries-old traditions provide a sound basis for strengthening economic and cultural ties, which, in turn, require advanced infrastructural facilities, including constructing road, railway and telecommunications networks, as well as developing the exchange of information and human contacts. The five countries have already made successful initial steps in coordinating their foreign policies, something which it is possible to do primarily in the institutions of the United Nations and within the framework of pan-European cooperation. In view of the ecological dangers now threatening the region, coordinating and jointly developing environmental protection projects has been given pride of place. Since it got under way, the Helsinki process has been regarded by Hungary as the most comprehensive forum for East-West dialogue and cooperation. This is why Hungarian foreign policy has been actively involved in promoting this process. The agreements reached at the CSCE forums play an indispensable role in shaping European unity and the pan-European security system. The participation of small countries in international organizations tends to widen their scope of action. Mindful of this, Hungarian foreign policy attaches importance to its work in the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as it is this sort of activity which offers the greatest chance to get involved in solving global and regional problems. The Hungarian armed forces have participated in the peace-keeping activities of the United Nations on several occasions, thereby contributing to enhancing the prestige of the world organization. The process of German unity has entailed substantial changes in Hungary's foreign political and external economic relations. The united Germany will become the country's number-one economic and commercial partner, but this will not mean that Germany will have a predominant place in Hungary's foreign relations. Hungary has a vested national interest in eliminating once and for all the country's former one-sided dependence and replacing it with a system of balanced international relations in which the European-North Atlantic area, rather than any one country, plays a determining role. It is in this awareness that Hungary is developing its relations with the United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, and the other member states of the European Communities as well as with the neutral countries. The assistance of Japan, the world's second-biggest economic and financial power, is indispensable in transforming the Hungarian economy. The opportunities are there for developing fruitful cooperation with the rapidly industrializing states of South-East Asia. Relations with the Soviet Union Placing its relations with the Soviet Union on new foundations is of particular importance to the Republic of Hungary. The goal is to build balanced, good-neighbourly relations based on equality. Geographical vicinity, the Soviet Union's status as a great power, and the role Hungarian-Soviet economic relations play in the Hungarian economy, are all good reasons for striving for this. The changes in Central-Eastern Europe have brought to the surface problems which have accumulated in the region for several decades, national and minority grievances, and certain tensions generated by subdued nationalism. Within its means, Hungary wishes to promote the development of pluralist democracy in Central Europe, because this will make it possible to have minority rights recognized and emergent nationalism suppressed. The implementation and observance of human rights are a foremost task of domestic policy and conditional on the development of democracy. At the same time, they have international implications, since violation of those rights impedes efforts to establish good-neighbourly relations. In view of this, respect for the political, civil, economic and social rights of Hungarian minorities, and providing scope for the preservation of their identity, are seen by Hungarian foreign policy as the basis for good-neighbourly relations. The Hungarian Government is ready and willing to cooperate to improve the situation of Hungarian minorities in other countries. At the same time, it welcomes any support the mother nations can offer their minorities living in Hungary. Good-neighbourly relations call for an all-round development of ties, the key aspect of which is the introduction of market relations in economic cooperation. Relations with Asian, African and Latin American countries Hungarian foreign policy is similarly reappraising its relations with the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The opening to the world market and entry into the mainstream of world economy make it necessary for Hungarian diplomacy to explore alternative sources of energy and raw materials, and to secure solvent market outlets. Because of ideological endeavours and misconceived political solidarity, Hungary failed to build proper relations with countries in these regions. In the past, Hungary only sought presence in the aforementioned regions to an extent in keeping with its political and economic possibilities, and ensured that cooperation was determined by mutual benefit. Hungarian diplomacy considers it useful to establish relations with the regional groupings of the developing world. It was with this in view that the first meeting of representatives of the Rio Group and the East European countries took place in Budapest. The results promise an encouraging follow-up. The first country to mention as regards Hungary's relations with countries outside Europe and the North Atlantic area is Japan. Of the countries in Central Europe, Japan devotes particular attention to Hungary and to establishing cooperation with the Hungarian economy. Hungary also attaches great importance to relations with China, India and Australia. The fact that a growing proportion of Hungary's oil supplies are secured from the Arab countries, which is conditional on balanced trade with those countries, has increased the weight of the Arab World in Hungarian foreign policy. Underlying the international role of Hungary are the results achieved in developing democracy and increasing the country's economic and competitive capacity. Hungary's independent foreign policy, based as it is on national consensus, contributes to enabling the country to become a full-fledged member of the community of European states within a few years, and to take part, commensurate with its means, in solving questions that determine the fate of the whole world.