Support and Procrastination: German Foreign Policy and Hungary’s Accession to NATO under the Horn Government

Abstract

1994–98, the period of the Horn government, were the crucial years of Hungary’s accession to NATO. The current article has the goal to shed a critical light on Germany’s position towards Hungary’s NATO accession. The conclusion is that Germany’s role was unquestionably positive: although not an enthusiastic supporter of NATO’s opening before the summit of 1994, Bonn steadfastly supported Hungary’s accession after that. Nevertheless, German foreign policy showed elements of procrastination as well: in light of Russian opposition, it did not always see eye-to-eye with Hungary’s aim to speed up the process of NATO accession.