The European Dimension Among Hungarians’ Collective Attachments

The collective identities of Hungarian citizens have recently undergone significant changes affecting both national and European attachments. Along this change, the European Union started to become a symbol of the ‘negative other’ for an increasing number of Hungarian citizens. This paper discusses the current dilemmas of European identity in Hungary. The author builds on the constructivist and functionalist theoretical approaches when explaining the shifts in collective identity formation. The following questions are raised in this paper: What are the main trends and changes in Hungarians’ attitude to Europe? What are the rational and irrational/emotional components of pro-, and anti-Europe sentiments? Is the civic component of European identity fading away in Hungary? Do Hungarian citizens trust their European and national institutions? What is the effect of EU’s multiple crisis – with special regard to migration crisis - on the identities of Hungarian citizens? Who are ‘the others’ for Hungarians? What issues, images and narratives are linked to pro-, and anti-Europe sentiments in contemporary Hungary? In order to be able to answer these questions, an interdisciplinary approach is taken. The arguments presented in this paper are supported by the data of the recent opinion poll surveys.