Hungary's current policy towards the European Union

Natalia Kowerek

doi:10.25167/fj.5904

Published: 2026-04-23

Vol. 3 (2026)

Hungary's current policy towards the European Union

Natalia Kowerek

FORTHEM Journal

Section: Essays

https://doi.org/10.25167/fj.5904

Abstract

This article examines the inconsistency in Hungary's foreign policy regarding its EU membership. While benefiting from EU opportunities, the Hungarian government counter new policies like the EU Migration Pact. It analyzes Hungary's historical background, focusing on Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz party, and explores themes of national identity and Hungarian conviction of greatness despite its size. The article also looks at Hungary's political isolation from the West, its support for illiberal democracy, and the status of Hungarian minorities abroad. Additionally, it discusses Hungary's support for EU expansion to the Western Balkans and the strategic motivations for this attitude. Ultimately, it illustrates Hungary's shift from a model EU candidate to a nation with growing inaccuracies towards the Union's core values, highlighting internal EU conflicts.

Download files

pdf

Citation rules

Kowerek, N. (2026). Hungary’s current policy towards the European Union. FORTHEM Journal, 3, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.25167/fj.5904

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

Bánkuti, M., Halmai, G., & Scheppele, K. L. (2012). Hungary's illiberal turn: Disabling the constitution. Journal of Democracy, 23(3), 138–146. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2012.0054
Google Scholar

Batory, A. (2008). The politics of EU accession: Ideology, party strategy and the European question in Hungary. Manchester University Press.
Google Scholar

Bozóki, A., & Hegedűs, D. (2018). An externally constrained hybrid regime: Hungary in the European Union. Democratization, 25(7), 1173–1189. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2018.1455664
Google Scholar

Brubaker, R. (1996). Nationalism reframed: Nationhood and the national question in the New Europe. Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar

European Union. (2012) Traktat o Unii Europejskiej. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/pl/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012M002
Google Scholar

Göncz, B., & Lengyel, G. (2021). Europhile public vs eurosceptic governing elite in Hungary? Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, 56(2). https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2021/number/2/article/europhile-public-vseurosceptic-
Google Scholar

governing-elite-in-hungary.html
Google Scholar

Huszka, B. (2017). Eurosceptic yet pro-enlargement: The paradoxes of Hungary's EU policy. ELTE Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of European Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.
Google Scholar

Márai, S. (2014). Wyznania patrycjusza (T. Olszański, Trans.). Czytelnik.
Google Scholar

Szczerek, Z. (2019). Via Carpatia. Wydawnictwo Czarne.
Google Scholar

Williams, M. B. (2016). Exporting the democratic deficit: Hungary's experience with EU integration. Journal of European Integration, 38(1), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2001.11655915
Google Scholar

Zielonka, J. (2018). Counter-revolution: Liberal Europe in retreat. Oxford University Press.
Google Scholar

Żołądź, J. (2009). Polityka zagraniczna współczesnych Węgier a kwestia mniejszości węgierskich w krajach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Wschodnioznawstwo, 3, 215–232.
Google Scholar