BY SÁNDOR LACZKÓ
As to how Hungarians arriving to Belgium, in different time periods, managed to integrate into society and be good citizens of the country, Ambassador Peinen says the profile is sometimes very different, but overall, they integrated very well into Belgian society. They still have this strong bond with Hungary, some still visit their Hungarian families. “After the first wave, the children that remained eventually dispersed all over Belgium. With the waves after that, like that of 1956, a lot of them ended up staying around the region of Brussels, Liege and Genk, which had to do also with the fact that there was major industrial activity around these places at that time and there was a need for
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STRENGTHENING BONDS THROUGH COOPERATION labor force. Others, academically brilliant students were employed also in the private sector.” He also highlights a few better-known Hungarians who ended up in Belgium. For example, Sándor Lámfalussy who later became known as the ‘father of the euro’, the common European currency. He received the Order of St. Stephen of Hungary in 2013. Another example is the current Honorary Consul for Hungary, Ari Epstein, who is based in Antwerp and who also has Hungarian heritage. He is now the CEO of the Antwerp World Diamond Council.
Strengthening bonds “Of course, this 100th anniversary is always a good occasion to strengthen the bonds that we already have. Since both Belgium and Hungary are members of the same club, both members of NATO and EU, there is already a lot of cooperation going on between our countries and I would say sometimes it's so obvious that we don't even notice it anymore. Both Belgium and Hungary are mediumsized countries with very open economies and thus, we are both very much dependent on free trade and
a good functioning single market within the EU. So, everything that is related to that really is a good reason to look at areas where we could cooperate more,” the Ambassador highlights. Looking towards the future, he mentions logistics as something that is very important for Belgium. “We have major ports
and we're looking more and more at how we can connect with the hinterland. Naturally, for example, we also look at Hungary being very centrally located, at the crossing point of the east-west and the north-south axes in Europe. So, it certainly offers a lot of possibilities. Nowadays, we live in
HUNGARY
AREA country comparison to the world POPULATION country comparison to the world POPULATION GROWTH RATE country comparison to the world BIRTH RATE country comparison to the world LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH country comparison to the world NET MIGRATION RATE country comparison to the world GDP - PER CAPITA (PPP) country comparison to the world UNEMPLOYMENT RATE country comparison to the world TELEPHONES - MOBILE/CELLULAR country comparison to the world AIRPORTS country comparison to the world
BELGIUM
93,028 sq km 30,528 sq km 110 140 9,699,577 (2022 est.) 11,778,842 (July 2021 est.) 93 80 -0.3% (2022 est.) 0.59% (2021 est.) 216 151 8.65 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) 10.95 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) 211 170 77.2years 81.65 years 92 31 1.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) 4.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.) 61 25 USD 31,000 (2020 est.) USD 48,200 (2020 est.) 63 31 3.45% (2019 est.) 5.36% (2019 est.) 48 86 10,332,660 (2020) 11,529,728 (2020) 88 78 41 (2013) 41 (2013) 103 102
Source: World Factbook
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DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM
Becoming Belgians
INTERVIEW WITH THE AMBASSADOR OF BELGIUM, SIEGFRIED PEINEN
photo by
This year, Hungary and Belgium celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Looking back at the history of this century, Ambassador Peinen notes that at the very beginning, there was a bit of cautiousness from both sides as Hungary and Belgium came from opposite sides after the First World War. “It was noticeable, however, that during the 1920s, the relationship became much more friendly and much more intense, which, politically, had to do with the Treaty of Locarno in 1925. On a more human, humanitarian level, a very important event was the setting up of the Hungarian Belgian Child Relief project, the so-called children’s trains. It was a project that was originally started by the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Great Britain at the time, just after the First World War. Of course, there was misery and poverty everywhere in Europe but the people noticed that conditions were especially hard in Hungary after First World War. From 1923, there were a lot of Catholic organizations that stepped into this project and this way, almost 25,000 Hungarian children could make their way to Belgium where they stayed with local families mostly in Flanders, and to a lesser degree in Wallonia. Most of them came back after a couple of months or years, but a lot of them stayed also in Belgium. We estimate that about 10% of them ended up staying in Belgium, and, of course, their descendants. They're very much aware of this bond and this creates up until today a special bond for many Belgians with Hungary. As a matter of fact, very recently there was an interesting exhibition going on in the Budapest History Museum on the children’s trains. This was briefly, and on a much smaller scale, repeated after World War II.“ The Ambassador adds that following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, numerous Hungarian refugees went to Western Europe with many of them also ending up in Belgium. “We estimate about 7,000 refugees arrived in 1956. Later on, as there were more waves of refugees, they were very warmly greeted and welcomed in Belgium where they called them freedom fighters. Some of them went on to other countries, but a lot of them stayed in Belgium. In conclusion of this issue, he states that relationship between Belgium and Hungary changed completely after the fall of the Berlin Wall when Hungary integrated into the Euro-Atlantic community, when it became member of NATO and EU.
