Free to boom - from the Baltic to the Adriatic

From a speech by Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister on the prospects for former Soviet-bloc states, at the University of Tartu, Estonia

When, in World War Two, Hungary declared war on the United States, the following conversation took place between the Hungarian chargé d'affaires in Washington and a State Department official, according to the Ciano Diaries.

When, in World War Two, Hungary declared war on the United States, the following conversation took place between the Hungarian chargé d'affaires in Washington and a State Department official, according to the Ciano Diaries.

"By the way, is Hungary a republic?"

"No sir, it is a kingdom."

"And which royal family provides the king?"

"None, sir, there is no crowned ruler in Hungary. Hungary is governed by an admiral."

"Oh, so you have a fleet?"

"No, we don't. Hungary has no sea.

"Well, well. And do you have any claims?"

"Yes, we do."

"On Russia?"

"No."

"Then on whom do you have your claims?"

"On Romania."

"And so presumably Hungary is also going to declare war on Romania?"

"No, sir. With Romania, we Hungarians are allies."

The same complexity applies to us this year when the Christian world celebrates the millennium - but we, Hungarians celebrate "another" millennium: the thousandth anniversary of Hungary's statehood, which we date from the coronation of the first Hungarian king, St Istvan.

For much of those one thousand years, freedom has been at the core of our struggles. Ten years ago, in 1990, we took the first steps that were to lead to freedom and independence.

I still remember vividly our joy at also seeing your country, Estonia, and the entire Baltic region freed at last from 50 years of Soviet oppression. During those 50 years our countries did not even have diplomatic relations. Luckily, our clever Finno-Ugric cultural diplomacy rescued our legacy for better times. And they came in 1990.

And what is happening now? Hungary has entered a phase of rapid and dynamic economic growth. Inflation is down to 7 per cent, GDP growth was 4.5 per cent last year - and it is 7 per cent in the first quarter this year - the unemployment rate today is under 7 per cent, and industrial output expanded by 20.4 per cent. And most economists predict these figures have set a trend for the next five years.

We have witnessed economic phenomena which, according to all economic textbooks, are impossible. But there was another major, parallel development: a new belt of prosperity, of dynamic growth and of stability stretching from the Baltic to the Adriatic, from the north of our region to the south.

This is an increasingly prosperous rim of the European Union. Just as in the Fifties and Sixties, the rims of the then core of Europe were the most rapidly developing regions. As another one of our linguistic relatives, Finland, is already a European Union member, I think we should try to form some sort of trilateral thinking on this issue. Finland is very supportive of EU enlargement.

In the beginning of the Nineties, the region faced three key issues, related to the existence of ethnic minority groups: the Russian, the Yugoslavian, and the Hungarian issues.

It remains to be seen what shall happen to the large numbers of Russians living in the successor states. Yugoslavia produced the bloodiest series of wars Europe has seen since 1945.

And what about the ethnic Hungarians living in other countries? These minorities established democratic parties and developed constitutional ways in Slovakia and Romania and Ukraine. And in Yugoslavia, they are allies of the democratic parties in opposition. In short, in the past 10 years Hungarian minorities have proved they are not part of the problem in their host countries but are part of of the solution.

I have heard an Estonian proverb that says that the town is new every day. On this note of optimism, let me thank you for your attention.