The Europeanization of Hungarian foreign policy and the Hungarization of European foreign policy, 2010-18

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fifteen years after joining the European Union there is a growing consensus that Hungary is in a process of de-Europeanization. This article aims to evaluate this assessment by looking at the foreign policy of Hungary under the second and third Orbán government (2010–18). Were there signs for de-Europeanization in the realm of foreign policy, and if yes, which? And secondly: what has been the degree of the Europeanization of Hungarian foreign policy between 2010–18 and which factors promoted or hindered it? To answer these questions, we look at both the implementation (decisions, initiatives, voting behaviour) and the rhetoric level of Hungarian foreign policy, in the latter case building on a sample of 103 speeches of foreign-policy decision-makers. By introducing the notion of ‘inevitable Europeanization’ the paper also aims to contribute to the conceptualization of the sub-field. Overall, we find that while Europeanized only to a low degree, Hungarian foreign policy was not in a process of de-Europeanization in the analysed period. Instead, the Orbán governments aimed to ‘Hungarize’ European foreign policy, i.e. to transform it in order to make it more compatible with its own preferences.