To Whom Is Orban Directing His 'Greater Hungary' Message by Wearing the Scarf of His Expansionist Ambitions?

In the footsteps of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is seeking to restore the glories of Tsarist Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sparked outrage in Europe with his revival of the dreams of a “Greater Hungary.”

On November 21, 2022, Orban published a video showing him greeting the Hungarian soccer players, wearing a scarf showing a map of his country before World War I in what was known as “Great Hungary.”

This appearance caused an uproar in Europe, especially in the neighboring countries, amid questions about the intentions of Orban, who has strong relations with Russia, regarding the future of his country, which nearly a century ago included parts of Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, and Ukraine.

 

Past Glories

In the video posted by Orban’s official Facebook page, the right-wing leader appears, saluting the Hungarian soccer players while attending a match between the Hungarian national team and his Greek counterpart.

Wearing a scarf with a map of “Great Hungary,” Orban said in the video that the Hungarian national team is “the team of all Hungarians, wherever they are,” claiming that “football is not politics.”

With the end of World War I (1914-1918), the victors imposed harsh peace agreements on the defeated countries, which included provisions that limited their armaments, reduced their areas, and sometimes forced them to pay huge financial compensation.

In addition to the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, and Sevres, which were imposed successively on the Germans, Austrians, and Turks, the Allies imposed on Hungary, which separated from Austria at the end of the conflict, the Treaty of Trianon, which held them, along with their allies, fully responsible for the outbreak of the First World War.

According to the terms of the Trianon signed on June 4, 1920, Hungary lost 75 percent of its area compared to the period of its existence within the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918).

Most of these lands were then devolved to Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, thus finding about 33 percent of the population of Hungarian origins themselves in other countries.

Orban’s action worried the Europeans and the West in general because of its timing, as his ally Putin seeks to restore the glories of Tsarist Russia and the former Soviet Union by annexing parts of Ukraine, as well as his campaign in Georgia years ago.

What increased the concern is that this is not the first time that Orban has ignited tension in the continent with references to Greater Hungary. In 2020, he published a picture of a globe showing the borders of Hungary before the end of World War I, which angered Croatia and Romania.

 

Political Game

In the context of the European uproar, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) wrote that Orban used to play politically with his country’s map, and when neighboring countries get angry, he pretends to be surprised and innocent, claiming that it is just a representation of a previous case that has nothing to do with current politics.

It added, under the title The Ironic Dream of Greater Hungary on November 26, that Orban’s failure to stop such provocations so far is a matter of concern because he is still cozying up to the war criminal Putin.

The German newspaper pointed out that Orban pretends to be the guardian of the Hungarians in neighboring countries and has previously given them Hungarian passports in large numbers and invited them to vote before his last elections.

It claimed that Orban knows that he cannot restore Greater Hungary. His provocations are just political games that may be intended to distract attention from something. Still, they may also be a resolution, given that he is a friend of an aggressive neighbor (Russia’s Putin) who seeks to restore his past empire as well.

The German newspaper also said that it may be legitimate for Hungary to defend its minorities in the event that the rights of their minorities are violated, as happened in Ukraine, but it is not legitimate to encourage them to undermine their loyalty to the state in which they live according to borders recognized in international law.

Reuters confirmed on November 23 that Orban’s Greater Hungary scarf would likely be on the agenda of the upcoming Central European Summit.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the scarf worn by Orban as promoting revisionist ideas.

Ukraine had complained about the divided loyalty of the Hungarian ethnic minority that lives in the Transcarpathia region on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border (150,000 people) and is culturally and linguistically linked to Hungary.

Orban described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an opponent in his victory speech following his victory in the April 2022 elections, and he strongly refused to supply weapons to the Ukrainian army.

 

Distant Dreams

It should be noted that despite the improvement of the capabilities of the Hungarian army and the development of its capabilities and military preparations after its exit from the mantle of the Soviet Union and its accession to NATO, its current capabilities do not allow it to invade neighboring countries, according to observers.

Compared to the Austro-Hungarian army before World War I, which included 3 forces: the Royal Imperial Army of 350,000 personnel, in addition to the Austrian forces of 40,000, and the Hungarian forces of 30,000, the size of the current Hungarian army does not exceed 22,000, along with 44,000 reserves.

It should be noted that the right-wing Orban’s party had won for the fourth time in a row since 2010 over a coalition of six opposition parties in the elections of April 4, 2022.

The Hungarian opposition parties accuse Orban of being an “authoritarian” who, during his 12 years in power, rewrote the constitution, filled the supreme courts with his appointees, changed the electoral system in his favor, and muzzled the judiciary and the media, imposing a strict conservative vision of society.

Orban had a fraught relationship with the European Union. The latter believes that Orban has undermined democratic institutions in Hungary, but his re-victory in the parliamentary elections made the rule of Viktor Orban, who is close to Moscow, in a better position.