Hungarian Policy Research Articles

The Changes of Hungarian Security Policy Preferences in the First Years of World War II (1938-1941)

Between the two World Wars, the relationship towards the neighbouring countries determined the main aspects of the Hungarian security policy. After World War I, huge areas and more than 3 million Hungarian inhabitants were detached from Hungary and annexed to the neighbouring countries. Hungarian politics mostly took efforts to re-annex these territories, what highly increased pressure with the neighbouring Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. After the outburst of World War II, the relationship with the two expansive world-powers, Germany and the Soviet Union got more emphasis. In the eyes of the Hungarian government, Berlin simultaneously represented a threat and a support to re-annex the detached territories. During the period of the outburst of the World War, the Hungarian political elite maintained its viewpoint focusing mainly on the territorial disputes going on with the neighbouring states. In theory, it evaluated the potential risks threatening the country well. In practice, however, it rather only drifted with the events and made narrow-minded decisions that did not consider wider perspective.

Obraz traktatu z Trianon w słowackiej historiografii

The past used to be evaluated differently. The victors usually point out positive sides of the events and the losers typically the negative sides. The peace treaties of the 20 th century brought huge territorial changes. In the age of centralized national states to become a citizen of another state means more considerable changes in life of people than ever before. The peace treaties after World War I rewrote the map of Central Europe. They created new states which had never existed before. During those stormy times, Hungary suffered the greatest losses. The territory of the country was reduced from 282,870 km² to 92,952 km², of which Czechoslovakia gained 61,646 km². The number of inhabitants fell from 18,264,533 to 7,615,117 of which Czechoslovakia gained 3,517,568 persons including 1,066,685 Hungarians. The historical Upper Hungary was renamed to Slovakia and became the part of Czechoslovakia. The process of peacemaking reminded war, even so after the armistice between the Hungarian Soviet Republic and the Czechoslovak Legion Army broke out a war. These events the Hungarian and Slovak historians estimate completely different. While the Hungarian side focuses mainly on losses, contradictions inside the Czechoslovak diplomatic argument as well as the incorrect interpretation of facts, the Slovak historians are doing the same but from their own point of view: they accuse the Hungarian policy about national minorities, denied the truth of data of census about national minorities, and also criticise the Hungarian efforts to maintain the borders. The general aim of all historical oeuvres is to justify the Czech political acts during the formation of Czechoslovakia with the current frontiers. This paper constitutes an attempt to present the actual view on the Peace Treaty of Trianon by Slovak historians included in recently published books. I attempted to summarize the main group of opinions represented by the academics; books written by authors who are widely acknowledged historians as well as by historians representing the “nationalistic” approach. The paper primly deals with the Slovak opinion. The Hungarian view is resumed in the last part of the article.

Transport policies in Hungary - historical background and current practice for national and regional level

IntroductionThis paper presents an overview of the current and past evolution of the Hungarian Transport Policies and investigates how and what kind of results could be used in the future transport concepts and strategies. It also examines the practice of coordination between the different territorial and administrative levels of transport planning. It aims to identify the applied policy instruments and the monitoring processes installed.MethodsBy using literature and legal background review from the past and current plans and policies the paper will also share the author’s own empirical work experience while participating in the elaboration of the New National Transport Strategy (NKS) as well as an insight from the Transport Policy for Budapest (Balázs Mór Plan). It gives an overview about the recent changes in the Transport Policy of Hungary and its implication for the project priority lists.ResultsThe expected results are the clear identification of synergies and gaps among the ongoing policies together with the divulgation of good and bad practices for the wider professional audience.ConclusionsThe need for a sustainable transport system, which assumes a sustainable economy as well is a huge challenge for policy makers. In order to avoid parallel policy making (especially when making policies for different areas) and minimize the economic and social cost of transport, we need a coordinated, multimodal approach, which includes the necessary organizations and public private bodies (with secure and sustainable financial background) with exact tasks and responsibility on all territorial levels.

Policy Diffusion, Policy Learning and Local Politics: Macroprudential Policy in Hungary and Slovakia

This article explains why certain Central and Eastern European states adopted macroprudential policies of local design that went beyond what European Union and International Monetary Fund authorities had recommended after the global financial crisis. We argue that macroprudential policies increase state control not only because of their inherent normative view on the inefficiency of markets, but also because governments use macroprudential policy to enhance state power. We show that macroprudential tools have often been used to satisfy local policymakers’ own agendas: financial nationalism in Hungary and protectionism in Slovakia.

Scaling up innovation: does research and development have a role to play in economic growth? A case of Hungary

The study investigated the impact of research and development expenditure on economic growth in Hungary using annual time series data ranging between 1996 and 2013. Abundant literature is available which shows that research and development expenditure leads to the improvement in economic growth. However, such studies in the case of Hungary are quite scant. The Johansen and Juselius' (1990) cointegration test noted that there exists a long run relationship between research and development and economic growth in Hungary. Moreover, economic growth was found to have been Granger caused by research and development expenditure in Hungary both in the short and long run, in support of the literature. The study, therefore, urges the Hungarian policy makers to craft and implement action plans that boost research and development expenditure in order to enhance economic growth in Hungary.

Federalizacja czy rozpad? Stosunki Stanów Zjednoczonych i Austro–Węgier w ostatnim roku pierwszej wojny światowej

Federalization or Dissolution? The Relations of the USA and Austria–Hungary in the Last Year of the First World War The United States of America played an undeniably pivotal role during the dissolution of Austria–Hungary. This article demonstrates the fact that President Wodrow Wilson was, until the last months of the war, hesitant to support the dissolution of Austria–Hungary. He gradually changed his standpoint over the spring and summer of 1918. It also proves that the Secretary of State Robert Lansing had a major effect on the President’s decision making. In contrast, the secret Peace Inquiry Bureau, or the group of experts named The Inquiry, established by Colonel House with the aim of tackling the issues of peace settlement, lacked inner coherence in terms of the future of Austria–Hungary after the war. The group’s representatives were long in favor of federalization, rather than of the empire’s dissolution. The article also largely examines Austro–Hungarian policy toward the USA, which to this day has not been thoroughly studied in specialized literature. Yet, before the spring of 1918 and to a certain extent even later, Vienna regarded the USA as a possible partner in its efforts to conclude peace. Studying Austro–Hungarian sources, the article analyzes in detail the development of Austro–Hungarian policy, which lacked a unified theme. In this respect, the article also mentions the devastating effect of the Sixtus Affair (April 1918) on the reputation of Austria– Hungary in the USA. Another conclusion of this article is the findings that in Austria–Hungary in the spring and summer of 1918, surprisingly scarce attention was paid to the US policy vis–a– vis Central Europe. President Wilson had not envisaged dissolution of the Hapsburg monarchy at the end of the war. In spite of his one statement from December 1914, the dissolution of Austria–Hungary was not in his plans. After Emperor Charles came to the throne (November 1916), Wilson and Lansing struggled to drive a wedge among the Central Powers and therefore carefully distinguished among them. While Lansing could not rule out the possibility that Austria–Hungary would escape the influence of Germany and would withdraw from the war, as time proceeded, he grew increasingly skeptical. His reservation was based on the widely accepted opinion that the monarchy was Germany’s vassal. As this article proofs, Austria–Hungary was not utterly dependent on Germany, contrary to statements made by various US officials including Wilson, the Emperor’s reputation was damaged by the Sixtus Affair in the spring of 1918. Similarly, with regard to the dangerous German offensive, a growing number of voices in the US administration called for the support of the claims of the exile representatives of the monarchy’s nations. Gradually, the space for differentiating between Austria–Hungary and Germany vanished. The United States had become convinced of the monarchy’s total dependence on Berlin and resolved for its dissolution.

Hungarian Asylum Law and Policy in 2015–2016: Securitization Instead of Loyal Cooperation

The study describes Hungary's policy towards asylum seekers and refugees in the tense period of 2015–2016 before and after the erection of fences at its southern borders of Hungary. It offers a theoretical explanation of the legal measures and practical actions. After briefly reviewing the factual basis, that is the magnitude of the movements and the number of decisions taken in the EU and in Hungary and the pertinent legal changes in 2015–2016 it elaborates the theoretical fundaments. Securitization majority identitarian populism and crimmigration are invoked as explanatory frames. The paper then reassembles the factual elements under six headings showing them in a new light. These are: denial, deterrence, obstruction, punishment, free riding constituting lack of solidarity and breaching the law (international, European, domestic). Finally the question is raised if all these moves are compatible with the duty of loyal cooperation of Member States with each-other and the EU as prescribed by article Article 4 (3) TEU.

On the edge of new public spaces - city-centre renewal and exclusion in Kaposvár, Hungary

In this paper we intend to analyse the effects of European and Hungarian urban policies with special attention to the consequences of neoliberalisation on marginalised groups. In the first part we demonstrate how neoliberalisation evolved in Hungarian policies. Next we analyse the revanchist turn of urban rehabilitation programmes, then we demonstrate the strengthening exclusion mechanisms of the rehabilitation projects through a case study in Kaposvar (Hungary) where anti-homeless regulations changed the survival strategies of marginalised people. With this research we intended to answer two questions. Firstly, how the class relation reproduction projects and processes of the neoliberal urban policies appeared in the Hungarian policies? And, secondly, how the processes that can be linked with inner-city regeneration can be interpreted in the light of the use of public spaces and the survival strategies of homeless? We illustrate the above mentioned local changes and the discourse of exclusion (as Hungarian manifestation of revanchist urbanism) through a case study. The research is based on narrative and life-path interviews with homeless of Kaposvar, and with experts, as well as members of the local political and cultural elite. Furthermore, we made participant observations to observe the consequences of the aspirations of local political elite.

VIDURIO IR RYTŲ EUROPOS GEROVĖS REŽIMŲ ORIENTACIJA Į AMŽIŲ: LENKIJOS IR VENGRIJOS ATVEJŲ LYGINAMOJI ANALIZĖ

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos Vidurio ir Rytų Europos gerovės režimų orientacijos į amžių skirtumų priežastys. Ieškoma atsakymo į klausimą, ko­dėl vienų Vidurio ir Rytų Europos (VRE) valstybių socialinė politika yra palankesnė vyresnio amžiaus piliečiams, o kitų – jaunesniems. Gerovės re­žimo orientacija į amžių nustatoma apskaičiuojant vyresniems / jaunesniems piliečiams skiriamų socialinių išlaidų santykį (VJIS indeksą). Pagrindiniais analizės objektais pasirinktos dvi VRE valstybės, kurios gerovės režimų tyri­muose įprastai apibrėžiamos kaip tuo požiūriu panašios, tačiau jų orientacija į amžių labai skiriasi. Tai Vengrija, kurios gerovės režimas orientuotas į jau­nesnius, ir Lenkija, itin didelę savo socialinių išlaidų dalį skirianti pensinin­kų gerovei užtikrinti. Atliekant sisteminę šių valstybių orientacijos į amžių kaitos procesų analizę, išryškėja, kad dabartinė Vengrijos ir Lenkijos gerovės režimų orientacija į amžių yra nulemta dviejų istorinių kritinių lūžių, įvyku­sių septintu–aštuntu dešimtmečiais ir pokomunistinio laikotarpio pradžioje. Remiantis istorinio institucionalizmo koncepcija, identifikuojami procesai, kaip dvi institucijos – socialinės sistemos fragmentacijos laipsnis ir partinės konkurencijos pobūdis – bei jų sąveika bėgant laikui lėmė Vengrijos ir Len­kijos gerovės režimų orientacijos į amžių skirtumų atsiradimą.

Thyroid Blocking Policy in Hungary and Clarification of Terminology in the Light of Recommendations by International Organisations.

The ambiguous terminology 'Iodine Prophylaxis' used for decades to provide iodine to the population for very different purposes as well as its replacement with 'Iodine Thyroid Blocking' is discussed and argued. Recommendations of international organisations regarding the action level for Iodine Thyroid Blocking and their implementation in national regulations in a few Member States of the European Union, and particularly in Hungary, is presented and discussed.

Race and Populist Radical Right Discourses: Implications for Roma Education Policy in Hungary

Non-government organizations and policy makers agree that the best route to eradicating the widespread discrimination and poverty among the Roma is to improve the quality of and access to education. A cursory glance at the Hungarian Government website suggests that policy makers are on top of the problem with good laws and initiatives in place. Yet, indicators from non-government groups and academics suggest the situation remains bleak for the Roma, and practices such as the segregation of Roma school children persist. Progressive change in Hungary first requires a serious confrontation of the widespread and deeply ingrained racism against the Roma. This paper makes no attempt at such an ambition; however, the paper aims to begin acknowledging the role race plays in populist radical right discourses about education policies in Hungary using a discourse analysis method informed by Critical Race Theory. The paper advances two arguments. First, there is a mismatch between official policy and actual progress on Roma education. Second, an examination of how populist radical right discourses about the Roma are racialized provides insight into why there is a mismatch.

Gospodarcze skutki polityki podatkowej na Węgrzech w latach 2008–2014

The aim of this article is to recognize the influence of changes in fiscal policy in Hungary in the years 2008–2014 on the sphere of the real economy. The tax solutions introduced in this country were and are the subject of international institutions’ criticism. The allegations concern, among others, failures to fulfill the obligations imposed by the EU legislation, discrimination against foreign companies, distortion of competition, excessive burden on the citizens with the lowest incomes. Discussion and analysis, presented in the article, help to identify the relationship between the Hungarian fiscal policy and the evolution of the economic situation of this country. It is noted, however, that such an assessment should always be approached with some caution, since the effects of changes in tax policy affect also other institutional conditions.

The Memoirs of János Kádár’s Interpreter Vladimir Baikov: A New Source on Soviet Policy in 1956 Hungary

Among the recently published historical sources which add important details to our image of the Soviet policy in Hungary in the weeks of the 1956 revolution and its suppression, the memoirs of Vladimir Baikov are among the most important. Vladimir Sergeevich Baikov (1916–2001), born in Moscow, worked as journalist and editor of Radio Moscow (Vsesoyuznii radiokomitet) news programs in the late 1930s and early 1940s, until the attack of Nazi Germany against the USSR in June 1941. He knew English well and began work on a PhD thesis on Contemporary American Literature. The war between Nazi Germany and the USSR, however, led to significant changes in his career. He became a political instructor in the Red Army and, when World War II had ended in May 1945, he found himself in Hungary, where he stayed on for about two years as an official in the Soviet military administration. It can be assumed that there was a lack of interpreters and translators of Hungarian in the Soviet military in post-war Hungary as well as in the Soviet part of the Allied Control Commission. Hence, Baikov was charged with learning Hungarian and, thanks to his linguistic skills, he quickly succeeded. In the first chapters of his memoirs, he describes the situation in Hungary of 1945-1946, the months of the acute confrontation between the pro-Communist and anti-Communist forces, especially in the days of the parliamentary elections in early November 1945. These were to be the last free elections in Hungary up till the spring of 1990.

Національні консультативно-дорадчі органи у системі публічного управління у сфері науки та вищої освіти

Предметом дослідження у статті стали організаційно-правові засади функціонування найвищих консультативно-дорадчих органів у сфері вищої освіти і науки, які створені при центральних органах публічної влади в Україні та деяких країнах Європи. Мета статті: на основі національної нормативно-правової бази Польщі, Чехії, Угорщини та Німеччини проаналізувати модель формування та функціонування національних дорадчих органів у системі управління наукою у цих країнах як суб’єктів вироблення національної наукової політики. Зокрема розглянуто місце у системі публічного управління таких інституцій: Національна рада науки та вищої освіти Польщі, Комітет наукової політики Польщі, Рада з питань досліджень, розвитку та інновацій Чехії, Національна Рада досліджень, інновацій та наукової політики Угорщини, Німецька наукова рада тощо. Доведено, що консультативні органи є елементом системи публічного управління та суб’єктом вироблення національної наукової політики. Вони сформовані у демократичний спосіб відповідно до принципів розподіленого врядування та, переважно, інституційного представництва. У статті проаналізовано деякі аспекти концепції створення Національної ради України з питань розвитку науки і технологій, закладеної у Законі України «Про наукову і науково-технічну діяльність», зокрема у контексті аналогічних європейських організацій. Розгляд концепції створення Національної ради України з питань розвитку науки і технологій з урахуванням адміністративно-управлінських ризиків може бути застосований під час імплементації Закону України «Про наукову і науково-технічну діяльність».

Inclusion and teacher education for special needs in Italy and Hungary

The present work stemmed from the collaboration between the University of Salerno (Italy) and the University of West Hungary and is part of a project aiming at implementing a unified educational training system whose core elements are initial teacher training, the organization of apprenticeship phases, and continuous professional development. Despite the clear and substantial differences between the school systems of the two countries, the aim that seems to unite the Italian and the Hungarian educational policies is the realization of truly inclusive school contexts within which teacher training takes on a leading role as teachers are the real guarantee that the process of inclusion in the educational and didactic field will be fully realized. With this aim, in both countries there is an ongoing debate about the need of a new teacher professionalism able to face the heterogeneity of today’s school contexts

The Hungarian policies to reduce population sugar intake

The Hungarian policies to reduce population sugar intake

Susan Zimmermann. Divide, Provide, and Rule. An Integrative History of Poverty Policy, Social Reform, and Social Policy in Hungary under the Habsburg Monarchy. Central European University Press, Budapest [etc.] 2011. 171 pp. Ill. £35.00.

Susan Zimmermann. Divide, Provide, and Rule. An Integrative History of Poverty Policy, Social Reform, and Social Policy in Hungary under the Habsburg Monarchy. Central European University Press, Budapest [etc.] 2011. 171 pp. Ill. £35.00.

Surveillance and state-making through EU agricultural policy in Hungary

This paper explores how the implementation of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and agri-environment measures in particular have been used to increase state oversight into rural affairs and land use in Hungary. The governmentalities of the agricultural sector through Europeanisation include stringent inspections and controls as part and parcel of accountability drives around the disbursement of subsidies. Agricultural surveillance mechanisms and processes are recounted here as holistic, perpetual and immediate, composed of the remote, administrative, as well as embodied physical encounters. Through ethnographic engagement with the Hungarian state’s interactions with its farmers during inspections, the forms and consequences of neoliberal governmentality are given life in a post-socialist context. I elucidate the numerous subjectivities involved in these encounters, and how bureaucratic and administrative requirements underlie the rise of private consultants, where social capital and informal networks are of great importance for the successful navigation of the agricultural system. On the part of farmers, subsidies’ accountability systems were lived as unjust, giving rise to speculation around the ‘real’ intended purposes of agri-environment legislation, which in turn undermines the expert authority of the state and heightens skepticism towards the European ‘project’.

Az integrált terület- és vidékfejlesztés eszközei és korlátai Magyarországon

Az integráció, az integrált működés az élet számos területén ismert és alkalmazott olyan követelmény, amely nélkül céljaink megvalósítása válna lehetetlenné. Kérdés, hogy az integráció miként jelenik meg a jövőnket jelentős mértékben befolyásoló fejlesztéspolitikában, és mindez miként értékelhető a terület- és vidékfejlesztés tudományos szempontjai alapján.A válaszokhoz vezető úton szükséges megismerni az integrált megközelítés fogalmi elemeit, az integrált – és az integráció inverzének tekinthető – ágazati fejlesztés jellemzőit, az integrált fejlesztési módszer területi léptékét meghatározó, befolyásoló szempontokat, az integráció lehetőségeit és feltételeit mind központi, mind pedig területi szinten.A 2014–2020-as programozási időszak európai fejlesztési forrásokhoz kötődő integrált eszközeinek hazai alkalmazása tekintetében arra is választ kell keresni, hogy a magyar döntéshozók miért nem kívánták vagy miért nem voltak képesek alkalmazni, illetve az elvárható vagy kívánatos mértékben alkalmazni az uniós szabályozás által felkínált két integrált fejlesztési eszközt, a közösségvezérelt helyi fejlesztést (CLLD/LEADER), valamint az integrált területi beruházást (ITI). Mindez az egyes integrált fejlesztési eszközökkel szemben támasztott követelmények vizsgálata alapján értékelhető. Valós szakmai alapokon nyugvó, racionális válasz nehezen adható.

Permanent and Changing Features of Foreign Policy in Hungary since 1989

Permanent and Changing Features of Foreign Policy in Hungary since 1989