The statement released on Wednesday by Hungary’s Foreign Ministry where it offers normalization of the relations between Hungary and Armenia “without preconditions” indicates that the Hungarian authorities are inclined to “brute-force” through the “Armenian Question” in an effort to put it behind them once and for all. This is the view of Erik D’Amato who shared his thoughts in an article published on politics.hu.
The author states that despite a handful of half-efforts by the Hungarian government to contain the Armenian wave of anger, the world-wide Armenian Diaspora has stood firm in its unwillingness to cool off. As for the Hungarians living abroad, the author believes that they are now divided into two camps: the Left that generally criticizes Victor Orban, and the Right that generally defends him.
“While such a split among Hungarians is quite predictable, I can’t help but find it incongruous, because there are good reasons why Hungarian nationalists of the sort that have backed the government throughout the controversy should be its biggest critics on the issue. Indeed, of all the countries that a nationalist Hungary should be cultivating good ties with, Armenia should be near the top of the list, for reasons of both principle and practicality,” D’Amato writes.
In order to understand the heart of the issue, the author suggests a comparative study of the maps of Nagorno-Karabakh and Transilvania (a Hungarian-populated enclave inside neighboring Romania) while noting that the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are by far poorer than the relations between Hungary and its neighbors Romania and Slovakia (Slovakia also has a sizable ethnic Hungarian community).
“Still, the parallels are striking, and if there is any country in Europe (last year it began negotiations to become an associate member of the EU) that can identify with the challenges Hungary faces in this area, it is Armenia. Meanwhile, for those who doubt whether Armenia has the clout to actually help Hungary and its ethnic kin abroad, the answer is yes. In the United States, the “Armenian lobby” is widely seen as one of the top three ethnic lobbies (the Cubans and Jews are the two others). And it is not just in the U.S. that the Armenian Diaspora flexes its political muscle. But now, rather than that muscle being flexed on behalf of the Hungarian nation, it will be flexed against Hungary and the Hungarians. And it should be Hungarian nationalists – rather than their “internationalist” rivals on the left – who should be the most enraged by the supposedly nationalist government that has allowed this to happen,” concludes the author.
