Romania Opposes Diplomatic Gift Depicting Historic Hungary
December 30, 2024
2,748
Depiction of Historic Hungary on a map by Ignác Hácsek (1885)
Hungary’s permanent ambassador to NATO, István Balogh, recently sparked diplomatic tensions by gifting a historical atlas to several NATO representatives, including those from Romania and Croatia, reports Krónika.
The atlas, part of Hungary’s National Atlas series, features maps of the former Historic Hungary, depicting regions that were once part of Hungary before the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry described the work as a highly professional representation of Hungarian geography, with no irredentist intentions.
It presents historical antecedents and the spatial context of Hungary but does not explicitly mention Historic Hungary.
However, the gift has been met with strong opposition from both Romania and Croatia. The Romanian Foreign Ministry issued a formal protest, calling the presentation of the atlas “a provocative manifestation.” It emphasized that such gestures do not serve the strategic partnership between Romania and Hungary. Romania also reiterated that provocative acts are detrimental to the two countries’ relationship and that their shared history should remain a subject for historians, not diplomatic actions.
The Croatian Foreign Minister, Gordan Grlić-Radman, was the first to publicly object, expressing his dismay over the atlas’ contents. He described the gift as “inappropriate” and expressed his intent to discuss the matter with his counterparts in Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The controversy centers on the portrayal of Historic Hungary in historical maps, remaining a sensitive topic for these countries.
This incident is not the first to stir tensions over Hungary’s portrayal of Historic Hungary. Four years ago, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s presentation of a globe showing Historic Hungary to Hungarian high school graduates sparked similar outrage in Romania.
The ongoing diplomatic fallout highlights the delicate nature of Hungary’s historical narrative in its relations with neighboring countries.
Related article
Third Volume of the National Atlas of Hungary Unveiled
The new monumental volume is the result of years of work by a team of over 100 specialists. Continue reading
A legjobb élmény biztosítása érdekében olyan technológiákat használunk, mint a cookie-k az eszközadatok tárolására és/vagy eléréséhez. Ha beleegyezik ezekbe a technológiákba, akkor olyan adatokat dolgozhatunk fel ezen az oldalon, mint a böngészési viselkedés vagy az egyedi azonosítók. A hozzájárulás elmulasztása vagy visszavonása bizonyos funkciókat és funkciókat hátrányosan érinthet.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
