Балканы в академическом дискурсе и внешнеполитической практике современной Венгрии

Abstract

The article examines the role and place of the Balkans in the academic discourse and foreign policy practice of today’s Hungary in the context of the existing approaches to the Balkan problematics in the Hungarian historical tradition. The author draws attention to the fact that the modern academic view of the Balkans in Hungary has certain features, expressed in the attempts to determine the structure of the Balkan space from the standpoint of political and historical geography. Therefore, representatives of the Hungarian academic and expert-analytical community are studying the Western Balkans as a special part of the region, designed, in their opinion, to solve a specific problem – the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union. In the current Hungarian realities, academic discourse has made it possible to formulate the «Balkan agenda» in a broader sense. The main topic of the discussions is the problem of Hungary's interaction with both the whole region and its «special part». At the same time, when pursuing the Balkan policy, the Hungarian side seeks to use the capabilities of the Visegrad Group and use Hungary’s membership in the EU to promote the idea of the need for the earliest possible admission of the countries of the Western Balkans to this Union. This approach is intended to strengthen the Hungarian position in the Balkan region as a whole, as well as draw US attention to Hungary’s efforts to implement this project. The article attempts to determine the place and role of the «Balkan vector» in Hungary’s foreign policy from the point of view of the interests of the center-right political forces currently in power, headed by Prime Minister V. Orbán. During his second term in office (since 2010), the Balkan theme has taken one of the leading places in Hungary’s foreign policy. First of all, Hungary actively supported a number of countries in the region in their aspiration to join the EU. At the same time, economic ties with the region were strengthened with the parallel use of «soft» power to form a positive image of Hungary in the socio-political circles of particular countries of the peninsula. Strategically, the Balkan theme of contemporary Hungarian discourse not only reflects the country’s foreign policy agenda, but also shapes it.