Hungary’s right-wing head of government Viktor Orbán (pictured) has had to accept accusations of historical revisionism for wearing a “Great Hungarian scarf” at a national football match. This shows the borders of the former Kingdom of Hungary, which included parts of present-day Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Ukraine.
Many Hungarians have still not come to terms with the collapse of the Danube monarchy, which saw the loss of two-thirds of Hungary’s territory. While Budapest had previously ruled over other peoples in a similar way to Vienna, many Hungarians became minorities in the new neighboring states.
Video itself shared on Instagram
Orbán wore the scarf during Hungary’s game against Greece on Sunday. He can be seen in a video that the Prime Minister himself shared on his Instagram profile (see below). He shows this after the match with Balázs Dzsudzák, who has been a kicker for the Hungarian national team for many years, who ended his career that day. In the clip, Dzudzák hands the head of government a sweater.
Bucharest: “Revisionist Declaration”
Immediate protest against Orbán’s scarf came from Romania, which is now home to the largest Hungarian minority. The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest described the head of government’s wearing of the scarf as a “revisionist statement”.
Ukraine demands ‘sorry’
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry immediately demanded an “apology” and a clarification that there were no Hungarian claims to Ukrainian territory. “Promoting revisionist views in Hungary does not contribute to the development of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations and does not correspond to the principles of European politics,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said. Relations between Kiev and Budapest are tense as Orbán has long questioned Western support for Ukraine.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković emphasized on Monday that he had not seen the images. “I can’t deal with other people’s scarves,” he told the Croatian news agency HINA. “As for the territorial claims against Croatia by anyone, including Hungary, they are absolutely unacceptable, it is not an option for us,” the conservative politician clarified.
President Zoran Milanović advised against an official response from Zagreb. “It makes me laugh. His ambitions in Croatia are limited to the fact that he will sail around the Adriatic for a month in August and we will meet for dinner,” said Milanović, referring to Orbán. “If you look at the neighbors we have, this one is the best,” the president said.
Source: Krone
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