PORK-BARELLING 'ETHNIC HUNGARIANS'

And impressing allies

A (geo)political perspective

Previous mention has been made on Conductive World of the Hungarian Government's sponsorship of the PAF's provision of services in 'Ethnic Hungarian' areas beyond Hungary's present borders, that is in former Hungarian territories now part of surrounding countries.

One hopes that these Government-sponsored schemes will bring widespread and sustainable benefits to their direct beneficiaries in Hungarian-speaking Transcarpathia (Ukraine), Transylvania (Romania) and Vojevodina (Serbia). Especially that they will prove sustainable.

It does well, however, to be aware of a possible political dimension of this activity and its wider financial and political background.

There are more than a million such Ethnic Hungarians (Hungary itself has a total population of around ten million). Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has granted such Ethnic Hungarians the right to register as Hungarian citizens – and to vote in Hungarian elections, There is a General Election in Hungary in April of next year. Such extraterritorial votes may just give him back the two-thirds majority that he needs to change the Constitution yet further.

The Hungarian Government's analogous involvements in Eastern Poland and Kazakhstan are of course founded on different political imperatives. These countries do not have Hungarian minorities – so they can offer no potential votes back in Hungary itself. They do, however, play important roles in the Hungarian Government's wider political narratives, the EU and 'Eurasia':

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/07/14/business/14reuters-hungary-orban-expats.html

All this this is presumably a further commitment that Semmelweis Medical University will now inherit, unless a separate, residual authority is established.