Hungarian Diplomacy towards Africa: Forging Bilateral Relations in the 1960s and 1970s

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Dániel Solymári
István Tarrósy

Abstract

One of the defining facts of Hungary’s foreign policy is that it had political sovereignty only for short periods until 1989. At the beginning of the 1960s a pragmatic and constructive Hungarian foreign policy began to take shape, which, in the period of the détente within the Soviet Bloc, could follow a relatively independent path. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was one of its key relations, and it became one of the priority foreign policy directions of Hungarian diplomacy. The diplomatic steps taken towards SSA, and the formation of the Hungarian Africa policy during the détente period, we argue, offer relevant considerations from a pragmatic international relations perspective even today. Based on archival and printed press sources, the article provides an analysis of Hungary’s “African turn” between 1960 and 1970.

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How to Cite
Solymári, D., & Tarrósy, I. (2025). Hungarian Diplomacy towards Africa: Forging Bilateral Relations in the 1960s and 1970s. Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society, 13(1), 135–160. https://doi.org/10.26806/modafr.v13i1.255
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Articles
Author Biographies

Dániel Solymári, Interdisciplinary Doctoral School, Political Science Programme, University of Pécs, Hungary and Royal Geographical Society, UK

He read Theology and International Relations in Hungary and the United Kingdom and holds MA degrees. He has also received an advanced degree in Humanitarian Diplomacy and Law at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Currently he is a PhD candidate at the University of Pécs, Political Science Doctoral Programme. Editor-in-chief of the https://maltaitanulmanyok.maltai.hu/ Since 2010, he has been working at the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta as its Director of Foreign Affairs. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

István Tarrósy, Department of Political Science and International Studies and Africa Research Centre, University of Pécs

He is Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political Science and International Studies and Director of the Africa Research Centre and the International Centre at the University of Pécs, Hungary. He is Head of the Doctoral Programme in International Politics and invited professor at the ISAD MA Programme of Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. He was Visiting Fulbright Professor at the CAS, University of Florida, in 2013-14, and Japan Foundation Fellow at Ryukoku University, Kyoto, in 2010. He is editor-in-chief of the Hungarian Journal of African Studies.