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Hungary Relations with Other Communist Neighbors
In the mid- to late 1980s, Hungary attached particular
importance to relations with Romania, Czechoslovakia, and
Yugoslavia, because each of these countries contained
rather
large Hungarian minorities. A common culture and language,
as
well as family ties, linked Hungarians in these countries
to
Hungary. The Romanian government and, to a lesser extent,
the
Czechoslovak government have subjected their Hungarian
minorities
to various forms of political and cultural oppression. On
the one
hand, Hungarian public opinion has pressured the HSWP
leadership
and the government to work for the amelioration of the
harsh
circumstances of Hungarians in neighboring countries. The
regime,
seeking to strengthen its legitimacy within Hungarian
society,
has taken up the cause of Hungarians living abroad. On the
other
hand, the prospect of open discord within the Soviet
alliance
system has restrained Hungarian criticism of Romanian and
Czechoslovak nationality policies.
Data as of September 1989
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