In 2012, Viktor Orbán asserted that Hungarians were “half-Asians” who could only act in a united manner if social unity was imposed by a central power, which, according to him, “did not, however, exclude consultation, debate and democracy.” This vision justifies the “policy of opening towards the East” launched the same year by a Hungarian government disappointed by the slow recovery in Europe after the financial crisis of 2008 and wishing to reduce its dependence on towards Western European markets. Seen from Hungary, the relationship which has developed from this date with China is favorable to the national economy, particularly in terms of investments, and more recently infrastructure projects carried out by Chinese companies. The most symbolic of them being the Budapest-Belgrade rail link, the last section of 350 km was inaugurated on February 27 and which constitutes the first line built with the help of China within the European Union (EU).
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Even if its completion took longer than expected, its commissioning underlines the extent to which Beijing is counting on Hungary to gain a foothold in the EU while its strategy aimed at maintaining a particular relationship with the countries of central and eastern Europe through the 16+1 Forum (also created in 2012 and now the continuation 17+1 after the accession of Greece) partially failed. There is no longer an annual summit between China and these states, the Baltic countries having even left the group for fear of harming European unity.
