Among Hungarian foreign ministers, there were few to whom the French language and culture were as significant as for János Martonyi, who, after an active political career, remained an essential figure in Hungarian public life as a legal scholar, author of historical studies and essays. His decades of international experience, his knowledge and his view of history provide him with a perspective on the developments over the centuries that can help the international public gain a better understanding of our country and its history. For this reason, we considered it important to publish an extended French version of János Martonyi’s volume Nemzet és Európa (Nation and Europe), published in Hungarian in 2021, following the English version. His thoughts, expressed more than twenty-five years ago as Minister of Foreign Affairs, still resonate today. “The essence of Europe lies in its diversity. If this diversity, with its many cultural and linguistic traditions, is lost or even blunted, Europe will lose its identity. Consequently, European unity cannot and will not exist without national identity, without the survival and strengthening of the nation.”

The writings in the book have been selected according to two main criteria. It examines Europe, Central Europe, and Hungary from the perspective of past centuries and from the context of regionalism and globalism as well. We endeavoured to make the historical context, with some minor additions, understandable for a French-speaking audience.

It is often said that the character of the Old Continent was shaped by three hills: Golgotha in Jerusalem, the Acropolis of Athens, and the Capitoline in Rome. The latter appears on the cover of our book since Roman law, the legal thinking that was based on it, and the European integration that began here with the Treaty of Rome are perhaps the most vital themes of János Martonyi’s oeuvre.

The author considers it essential to return to the historical foundations of the European Union, bringing Otto von Habsburg into the circle of European founding fathers of Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and others. Who, as the former Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and with 20 years of experience as an MEP, realised that Europe cannot be built without historical, cultural and spiritual foundations. The Otto von Habsburg Foundation honours the 80 years of János Martonyi with this publication.