Külügyi Szemle - A Magyar Külügyi Intézet folyóirata - 2013 (12. évfolyam)
2013 / 2. szám - MAGYAR-OSZTRÁK DIPLOMÁCIATÖRTÉNET - Kiss J. László: Politika és percepció: magyar és osztrák (kül)politika az átalakulás éveiben (1988-1991)
Politika és percepció of pragmatic Ost- and Westpolitik. In the framework of East-West relations the changing geopolitical situations were closely related to the changing perceptions of politics and identity of two countries. Based on Hungarian archive documents the essay describes the main features of mutual perceptions of the two countries which have taken shape especially around Austria's European policy and Hungary's domestic transformation process. The international change Austria faced were the accelerated reforms process in Eastern bloc, the impact of German unification and last but not least Vienna's efforts to join the EC as soon as possible in order to preserve its geopolitical advantages. The essay sheds light on the "perception of perception", namely how the Austrian political class perceived the domestic development in Hungary and how Hungary's Austrian perception was perceived and reported by the Hungarian diplomats. The Austrian politicians were concerned of the accelerated domestic development and the missing transparency in domestic rearrangements. Several times they tended to identify the collapse of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party with emergence of uncontrollable chaos. Due to the changes in the former Eastern bloc, Austria lost the geopolitical base for its role of traditional East-West mediator and diplomatic service provider. Furthermore, the essay discusses how the politicians of two countries perceived the impact of Austria's accession to EC on the bilateral relations and what was advised to be done in order to preserve the achievements of good-neighbourly policy following the Austrian membership. Finally, the essay takes a closer look at the changed perception of borders following the opening of the Iron Curtain and examines the asymmetries of opening of the Hungarian-Austrian border in both Austrian and Hungarian domestic systems. 2013. nyár 125
