Economy 14 September 2023, 5:02pm

Hungary MoFA sends angry letter to the Swedes - Another tedious chapter in the NATO accession saga

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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó sent a letter to Sweden's foreign minister on Thursday, following the publication of a school textbook in the country that accuses the Hungarian government of dismantling the democratic system in Hungary.

Serious accusations and false information about Hungary are spread in schools in Sweden, which does not help the ratification process of the Scandinavian country's accession to NATO,

wrote Szijjártó to his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billström, state newswire MTI reported on Thursday. He did not elaborate on what these "accusations and false information" would be.

According to Szijjártó, Swedish politicians have made "a series of serious, biased, unfair and unjust accusations" against Hungary, which "questioned the democratic nature of our political system and the maturity of the Hungarian people to decide on the future of their country." In particular, the minister criticised the publication of an educational material in Sweden criticising the democratic nature of the Hungarian state.

He also pointed out that Sweden's criticisms of Hungary could complicate the country's negotiations on joining NATO.

"I am sure you understand the contradiction between the two phenomena: you are urging our MPs to ratify your accession to NATO, while you continue to accuse them of destroying democracy in Hungary. This contradiction has now become even more acute, and does nothing to help your continued demands," Szijjártó wrote in the letter.

Hungary and Turkiye are the only NATO members yet to ratify the accession of Sweden to the transatlantic defence alliance. Ankara has made come up with some palpable conditions to its approval, while Budapest is groping for reasons that would at least superficially explain its reluctance.

The traditionally neutral country, along with Finland, has asked to join the transatlantic defence alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Turkey has been holding off the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership, accusing the Scandinavian country of being too soft toward groups that Ankara regards as threats to its security, including Kurdish militants and members of a network that Ankara blames for a failed coup in 2016.

Orbán’s ‘explanation’ has been more opaque, with him essentially saying relations first must improve.

Finland, and Sweden in particular, have been

spreading blatant lies about Hungary, about the rule of law in Hungary, about democracy, about life here.

The political relations between Hungary and Sweden are awfully wrong. We don’t want to import conflicts into NATO,

Orbán said in May.

What's this educational material then?

Márton Gulyás, political activist, the founder of the largest local political Youtube channel Partizán, says early in the video titled 'The EU and democracy' that "democracy in Hungary has been slowly disappearing since 2010 when Viktor Orbán first came into power."

The educational video – focusing on the erosion of the rule of law in Hungary – was made in 2019, i.e. four years ago, and is set to remain an upper secondary school material until 30 June 2024. The other three parts of the programme focusing on the EU are about the EU's refugee policy, lobbying, and the pros and cons of the union.

The topics discussed included a protest for press freedom outside Parliament after Hungary’s largest (opposition) newspaper Népszabadság was shut down; Hungary’s worsening standing in Freedom House’s democracy rankings, (the situation has not exactly improved since then, as you can see here, here and here); a Hungarian government decree putting a stop to gender studies; a report by MEP Judith Sargentini; the effective ousting of Central European University (CEU) from Budapest; patriotic text books in schools or politics interfering with education, and the European Commission launching a procedure against the country for its democratic backslide and rampant corruption that could strip it of its voting rights in the EU. For now, the EU has “only” blocked funds for Hungary in its rule of law conditionality mechanism.

PISA scores in Hungary and Sweden

Comparing educational systems is a most difficult endeavour. Student attainment, however, may be compared. An internationally accepted 'tool' for such comparison is the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is a triennial survey of 15-year-old students that assesses the extent to which they have acquired the key knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society. The assessment focuses on proficiency in reading, mathematics, science and an innovative domain (in 2018, the innovative domain was global competence), and on students’ well-being.

Here's how Hungary and Sweden compared in 2018.

Students in Hungary scored lower than the OECD average in reading, mathematics and science.
Students in Sweden scored higher than the OECD average in reading, mathematics and science.

Compared to the OECD average, a smaller proportion of students in Hungary performed at the highest levels of proficiency (Level 5 or 6) in at least one subject; at the same time a smaller proportion of students achieved a minimum level of proficiency (Level 2 or higher) in at least one subject.
Compared to the OECD average, a larger proportion of students in Sweden performed at the highest levels of proficiency (Level 5 or 6) in at least one subject; at the same time a larger proportion of students achieved a minimum level of proficiency (Level 2 or higher) in at least one subject.

READING

In Hungary, 75% of students attained at least Level 2 proficiency in reading (OECD average: 77%)
In Sweden, 82% of students attained at least Level 2 proficiency in reading.

Some 6% of students in Hungary were top performers in reading, meaning that they attained Level 5 or 6 in the PISA reading test (OECD average: 9%).
Some 13% of students in Sweden were top performers in reading, meaning that they attainedLevel 5 or 6 in the PISA reading test.

MATHEMATICS

Some 74% of students in Hungary attained Level 2 or higher in mathematics (OECD average: 76%).
Some 81% of students in Sweden attained Level 2 or higher in mathematics.
In Hungary, 8% of students scored at Level 5 or higher in mathematics (OECD average: 11%).
In Sweden, 13% of students scored at Level 5 or higher in mathematics.

SCIENCE

Some 76% of students in Hungary attained Level 2 or higher in science (OECD average: 78%).
Some 81% of students in Sweden attained Level 2 or higher in science.
In Hungary, 5% of students were top performers in science, meaning that they were proficient at Level 5 or 6 (OECD average: 7%).
In Sweden, 8% of students were top performers in science, meaning that they were proficient at Level 5 or 6.

Cover photo: MTI Photo/János Vajda