The image of Hungary in surrounding countries is improving, according to a survey by the Central European Nézőpont Institute.
Nézőpont said in its report that the “wounds” of the Trianon arrangements that deprived Hungary of two-thirds of its territory one hundred years ago were healing slowly thanks to cooperation and mutual respect in central Europe, and Hungary’s image in the Carpathian Basin had improved in the past year. Slovakians have the most positive view of Hungary (78%), followed by Croatians (68%) and Serbians (60%). More than half of respondents in neighbouring countries, with the exception of Romania (47%), had positive views of Hungary. In Croatia, favourable opinions increased by 12 percentage points in a year while in Slovakia they were up 11 percentage points. In Austria there was a 10 percentage-point rise. Only in Romania and Serbia was there a decline.
Hungarians also have more positive views of neighbouring countries, with 82% of Hungarian respondents expressing a good opinion of Austria, up 9 percentage points compared with 2019, while 74% felt positive about Croatia. Positive sentiment in relation to Slovenia and Slovakia was 64% and 62%, respectively. Less than half of respondents were upbeat about Serbia (40%) and Romania (36%). Nézőpont noted anti-Hungarian sentiment “often seen in Bucharest politics”, which impacted the opinion of Hungarians.
MTI
