A Polish-language study volume on Hungarian public life was presented on Thursday at the Waclaw Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute in Warsaw. Representatives of the Századvég Foundation, which contributed to the publication of the book Hajrá, Hungary 2010-2022, also participated in the event.
Sociologist Andrzej Klarkowski, who introduced the discussion and adviser to Polish President Andrzej Duda, stated that there is a need for Polish publications that "explain the way of thinking of Hungarians and also analyze the external characteristics of Hungarian politics". "We don't have to completely agree with each other on everything, but we need to understand each other," Klarkowski added.
Zsolt Barthel-Rúzsa, vice-president of the Századvég Foundation, shared a similar opinion, who also found it important that the authors of the book include not only Hungarian, but also Polish and Czech experts.
Member of Parliament Piotr Babinetz, chairman of the council of the Felczak Institute, emphasized that at the moment, when "politics are more intense than we are used to", there is a need for publications that approach the recent history of Hungary and Polish-Hungarian relations in a way that is understandable to the public, and "highlight the also how important the good relations between Warsaw and Budapest are for the politics and economy of both countries".
In the foreword to the publication, Maciej Szymanowski, director of the Felczak Institute, reviewed the main stages of the Fidesz-KDNP administration, and called Hungary "the outpost of the outposts" among the countries that support the European Union, conceived as a community of nation states. He noted: in this regard, the Hungarian government also counts on the support of Poland.
The publisher of the volume containing historical overviews, economic, political and sociological analyzes is the Felczak Institute, whose website highlighted that Hungarian political life is "surrounded by many misunderstandings, misinterpretations and fake news abroad, including in Poland". The publication that has just been presented attempts to "highlight some important and much-commented topics and illuminate the motivations of the functioning of Hungarian public life, supported by facts and research".
The spine of the volume is made up of the edited versions of the materials prepared by the Századvég Foundation, which the publisher supplemented with several articles specially prepared for this purpose. In addition to the authors of the Századvég Foundation, the book also includes the writings of experts Dávid Szabó and Anton Bendarzevszkij. In addition to them, the writings of Polish writer and publicist Grzegorz Górny, Polish journalist Jacek Przybylski, and Czech political scientist Lucie Sulovská can also be read.
Source: MH
Image: Waclaw Felczak
