In the course of the interview, among other things, he talked about the short time he spent in Hungary during his childhood, the escape of his family and the decades he spent in emigration. Particularly interesting were his memories of his youth in Portugal, his friendship with István Horthy, or his descriptions of the exiled European ruling families living in Lisbon.
The conversation provided valuable new information about the relationship between our interviewee and Otto von Habsburg, which dates back to the 1960s. Mihály Habsburg was a great help to our namesake in organising family events, the Pan-European Union from the 1970s, and from the period of the regime change onwards, he was an important assistant to him in handling Hungarian matters. In the early 1980s, he returned to Hungary with a visa he had applied for in West Germany – and his account of the situation in the country and the everyday life of the people living there can still provide many lessons.
During the interview, the importance of the Mindszenty Foundation, of which Mihály Habsburg has been president for more than twenty years, was also discussed. At the end of the discussion, there was also a mention of the historical role of the “Hungarian side” of the House of Habsburg, the legacy of Palatine Joseph and the consistent and enviable opennes of Otto von Habsburg in his life, who was always available to those who approached him in person or by letter.
The interview in Hungarian is available below:
The edited version of the interview will be available for research in the digital archive of the Otto von Habsburg Foundation.
