The paradiplomacy of Hungarian municipalities – Experiences from an online survey

Abstract

The study examines the international engagement of Hungarian local governments through the lens of paradiplomacy, with particular emphasis on the evolution, motivations, and spatial patterns of town twinning relations. While paradiplomacy has gained increasing scholarly and policy attention, empirical knowledge about its actual practices in Central and Eastern Europe remains limited. Addressing this gap, the research analyzes the structure and dynamics of Hungary’s municipal international relations three decades after the political transition from state socialism.

The research was conducted between 2024 and 2025 in collaboration with the Hungarian National Association of Local Governments (TÖOSZ). An online questionnaire was distributed to all 3,155 Hungarian municipalities and 23 Budapest districts. A total of 409 valid responses were collected (12.8% response rate). The weighted dataset is representative of settlement type. Quantitative and spatial analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics and QGIS softwares, allowing for both descriptive statistical examination and visualization of twinning relations.

Our findings confirm the growing importance of paradiplomatic engagement in Hungary: 87.9% of municipalities maintain at least one twinning relation, compared to only 33% in 2002. The number and diversity of relations are strongly correlated with settlement size: while large cities have on average seven twinning partners, small villages typically sustain two. The direction of cooperations has also shifted markedly over the last two decades.

Twinning relations since the regime change are dominated by Western European partners (Germany, Austria, France) and, with an increasingly strong focus on Central and Eastern Europe, by neighboring states (notably Romania and Slovakia). This transformation reflects the combined impact of European integration, regional cross-border programs, and the nation-centered foreign policy of the Hungarian government after 2010.

A key contribution of the study lies in identifying the central role of intraethnic relations – partnerships with Hungarian communities living in neighboring states or connecting domestic nationalities with their homelands. These forms of cooperation, supported by targeted state programs (e.g. the Bethlen Gábor Fund), have become a cornerstone of Hungarian municipal paradiplomacy. These intraethnic cooperations are characterized by high social embeddedness, frequent interaction, and active citizen participation, producing tangible community-level impacts beyond symbolic diplomacy.

The analysis also highlights the persistent structural constraints that limit the effectiveness of local paradiplomacy. Municipalities report insufficient financial and human resources (57%), language barriers, and declining interest from international partners as the main obstacles. Despite these challenges, smaller settlements tend to maintain fewer but more intensive and sustainable partnerships, whereas larger cities often engage in more formalized and symbolic relations embedded in global networks.

Overall, Hungarian municipal paradiplomacy is simultaneously shaped by historical legacies, national policy frameworks, and bottom-up civic initiatives. The findings suggest that the most resilient and socially valuable forms of paradiplomacy are identity-driven, community-based, and intraethnic in nature.