Hungary has concluded a new agreement with the Middle Kingdom, which provides for “cooperation in judicial and security matters”. In February this year, Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Interior Minister Sandor Pinter in Budapest. Wang said he looked forward to “deeper cooperation in the fight against terrorism and crime” and spoke of a “new high” in relations.
Hungary, a member of the European Union and NATO, has for years sought rapprochement with Russia and China. So far, it has mainly been about economic relations. Hungary is the first EU country to join China's “New Silk Road Initiative,” through which Beijing seeks to increase its influence through foreign investment. This is just the beginning, and the regulations Beijing is dictating are just beginning.
China is planning multibillion-euro projects in Hungary, including a railway, factories for the e-car industry and a campus for the elite Fudan University in Shanghai.. In the fall, Viktor Orbán was the only EU president to participate in the “New Silk Road” forum in Beijing.
The agreement reached goes beyond the economic sphere. Official statements were vague and were released days after the Budapest meeting. However, there are many similarities to the agreement China has already made with Serbia outside the EU. There, Chinese services are already officially authorized to patrol cities to monitor areas popular with Chinese tourists.
Critics fear that similar investigations will take place on Hungarian soil in the future.
Along with Chinese investments, many Chinese citizens also come to Hungary. From the point of view of the Chinese government, these people must be monitored
– says Szabolcs Panyi, an investigative journalist and expert on Hungarian-Chinese relations. It is “obvious” that China wants to create a framework for this.
It's no secret that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spies on its citizens around the world. In 2022, the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders revealed that China was pushing the allegations. International network of illegal police stations. The purpose of this “shadow cabinet” is clear – to control the Chinese abroad, intimidate them and sometimes bring them back to China.
Many of the more than 100 outposts discovered are located in Europe; Most of them in Italy, then They announced their withdrawal from the “New Silk Road” project.
As the EU debates measures to free itself from China, reeling from the shock of Russia's attack on Ukraine and its dependence on Russian gas, Hungary continues to nurture its ties with both Beijing and Moscow. Viktor Orbán's strategy is not to choose a side in the new conflict between the West and the China-Russia alliance, but to become a kind of bridge – to gain benefits and influence..
On the other hand, For China, Hungary is an important trading partner and a tool for influencing the EU. Viktor Orbán used his veto power to block or weaken measures against China in Brussels. As more countries withdraw from China's “17+1” dialogue format with Central and Eastern European countries, Budapest has become even more important to Beijing.
“Hungary and China have always respected, supported and treated each other as equals,” Orban said of the new defense deal, according to China's Xinhua news agency. However, it is difficult to talk about equality.
Hungary is more dependent on China. Chinese projects abroad are implemented according to norms dictated by Beijing.
Planning and implementation are usually carried out by Chinese companies, often using construction materials and labor from China. The Hungarian government has ordered a number of security systems, such as surveillance cameras, from Chinese companies – which are maintained exclusively in cooperation with Beijing. Hungary is also heavily dependent Chinese telecommunications group Huawei is also considered a security threat to the United States Because of possible industrial espionage.
Recently, however, the Hungarian Prime Minister made concessions to his Western partners on one issue: Paved the way for Sweden to join NATO And Aid package for Ukraine in the amount of EUR 50 billion. This may also be why Hungary's upcoming defense cooperation with China has so far attracted little criticism from Brussels.
