Written by Márton Vay

Still a taboo in Hungary, the Trianon Treaty, signed on 4 June 1920 at Versailles, put an end to WW I. Today the treaty fuels nationalist debates and division in Eastern Europe.

According to the Treaty of Trianon, the country lost 72% of its 325.000 km2 territory and some 64% of its 20.900.000 population. This explains why 1/3 of the currently existing 15 million Hungarians live abroad.

Eighty years have passed, but the Magyars have not yet come to terms with this trauma. This may sound absurd, but the Hungarians still pick on the French due to the treaty. At the time of its signature the French delegation firmly pushed the peace dictate despite the heavy opposition of Hungarian politicians.

Written by Judit Járadi

In an interview with café babel, Hungarian MEP István Szent-Iványi reflects on the attitudes of Hungarians towards the EU accession of their neighbours, Romania and Bulgaria.

Since May 2004, Hungary has gone from being an EU hopeful to one of the ‘in-crowd’, speculating on the accession of more countries to the EU club. István Szent-Iványi, previously Undersecretary for the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, believes that Hungarians have nothing to fear from the accession of Romania and Bulgaria.