The Yemeni Unification and Hungary

Abstract

Although the idea of a united Yemen had been on the minds of the inhabitants of the Yemeni territories for centuries, it was not until May 1990 that it was actually achieved. The basic reasons for this were initially rooted in local tribal/ethnic and religious conflict of interest, which deepened after the foreign powers appeared and settled in the region. This division, a legacy of the foreign occupation, persisted after independence and by the late 1960s two socially, economically and ideologically distinct Yemens emerged in the south-western part of the Arabian Peninsula. These crucial differences were the reason why it was only in the second half of the 1980s, largely due to a fundamental change in the foreign policy context, that there was a reasonable probability of achieving unity. In this context, the aim of the present study is to illustrate the reasons and contexts that have finally made centralisation possible. Moreover, it also wishes to present in detail Hungary’s position on the issue and its hopes and expectations for forming a united Yemen or the Republic of Yemen.