After an outburst by German Green MEP Daniel Freund about the football scarf Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wore on Sunday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry also denounced Orbán’s choice as “revisionism.”
In a statement, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has expressed its “strong disapproval” of the gesture made by Orbán. The Hungarian PM appeared at a Hungarian-Greek football match on Sunday with a supporters’ scarf bearing a map of Greater Hungary, which includes the old territory of Hungary before much of it was partitioned and given to Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, and Slovakia at the end of the First World War. With Hungary losing 72 percent of its territory, the event still serves as a source of mourning for Hungarians, including for those ethnic Hungarians cut off from their old country.
In a video posted on his official social media page, Orbán congratulated Balázs Dzsudzsák, who is retiring from the Hungarian national football team, and the motif of Greater Hungary is clearly visible.
According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Hungarian prime minister’s gesture “clearly contradicts the openness surrounding the resumption of bilateral dialogue, which the Romanian foreign minister had discussed during his recent visit to Budapest, both during his consultations with the prime minister and his Hungarian counterpart.”
On Monday, German MEP Daniel Freund posted a tweet saying “The Prime Minister of Hungary – wearing a scarf with the map of Greater Hungary. How reassuring for Hungary’s neighbors.”
Orbán attended the game against Greece on Sunday to congratulate Dzudzsák (35) on his farewell match for the national team. He was on the starting Hungarian team as captain; Hungary won 2-1. With this match, Dzsudzsák also became the player with the most matches on the Hungarian national team at 109.
