Exiting the negative spiral

Gergely Prőhle’s essay was published on the online platform of the journal Országút on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s accession to the EU.

“Whoever is not a good Hungarian cannot be a good European.”

On 1 May 2004, twenty years ago, Hungary became a member state of the European Union. Otto von Habsburg, who had fought throughout the years of the Cold War to reunite the continent divided by the consequences of the Second World War, saw the enlargement as a significant opportunity, offering a wealth of new prospects.