Why isn’t Hungary ever concieved as a part of Balkan?
Posted by UpsetBlock8724@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 137 comments
I am asking for an average persons opinion. I sometimes get the impression that Hungary is frequently seen as a different planet from the Balkans when in fact it is it’s close neighbor. And I don’t know about the whole ‘Mitteleuropa’ idea, most Hungarians I met who have this idea of Hungary as Central Europe were cultural racist
H_nography@reddit
Is Ukraine in the Balkans too by this mindset? Lol.
Just because a country "looks" Balkan and is a neighbour it doesn't mean it is.
Romania is barely Balkan, and Moldova gets half a pass because we are Romanians, those mountains don't stretch to infinity man.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
Romania is Balkan, Moldova isn’t.
H_nography@reddit
Hard agree there
SnooWoofers7603@reddit
The same way is România, not part of Balkan. You need to study geography to know the answer of your question.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
Romania is geographically not Balkan but it is culturally. Hungary is neither
SnooWoofers7603@reddit
Does that mean we’re half balkans?
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
I guess. A lot of people consider Romania Balkan, although it’s officially not classified as Balkan sometimes. For example in schools here, Romania isn’t considered Balkan, but most people will tell you otherwise
Turbulent-Ad1123@reddit
Who doesn’t, I always thought they are balkans
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
“Who doesn’t”…anyone with a brain or basic geography knowledge. They are 0% Balkan
Turbulent-Ad1123@reddit
Boohoo, their name screams balkan to me
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
have you ever even been to Hungary ? Even Portugal is more Balkan than them lmfao
Catman_192@reddit
Because geographicly it's not in balkans
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
not culturally either.
Bunjo@reddit
There is a different vibe as soon as you leave Hungary towards the south. Cafés are lively with customers as soon as you get into Croatia and Serbia while even town centres in Hungary are empty. Everybody also becomes a few levels nicer and relaxed. I also experienced a lot of people speaking Hungarian even if they are not ethnic Hungarian in Setbia or Croatia…less than before but still…while in Hungary people who live beside the border all their lives don’t speak a lick of Serbian anything that’s spoken across the border. There are many other fundamental differences but these ones seem to be the most visible for me.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
I go to Hungary quite often and it feels like a different world. Completely different mentality over there
shaj_hulud@reddit
Dude. Check magyarization.
Bunjo@reddit
That permanently stopped after World War II.
Loife1@reddit
It is, not always, but pretty often
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
by often you mean on reddit ? Not one same person considers Hungary Balkan lmao
OkoMushroom@reddit
Because it is a different planet compared to the rest of us, have you ever crossed a Hungarian border? They treat everyone worse than dogs.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
exactly.
wereallfuckedL@reddit
That’s actually a fact, they fined me even though I bought a motorway vignette thing as soon as I could, because I’d driven without one until I realised I needed it. Literally everywhere else I’ve driven in Europe it’s been much more obvious where you need to pay. They’re just deliberately obtuse. They also are the only border out of 7 that bothered to do a deep search of my 2011 Ford Ka and me - a solo female driver of 5’ 4” with a bag of granola next to me on the drivers seat.
malollama@reddit
They act up as if they’re not poorer than Romania or other Balkan nations.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
Romania is definitely poorer on average and so is 80% of balkans really. Visibly Hungary is more developed
JRJenss@reddit
Because they aren't? I mean Slovenia has surpassed them and is richer. Croatia is basically tied with Hungary and will likely surpass them next year, while everyone else in the Balkans IS poorer, most of them A LOT poorer.
StamatisTzantopoulos@reddit
Greece has a bigger GDP, both as a country and per capita
JRJenss@reddit
Greece is basically tied with Hungary and Croatia in terms of the nominal GDP per capita - literally less than 100 dollars behind Hungary and a couple of hundred dollars ahead of Croatia.
In terms of the GDP PPP per capita, it is behind both Hungary and Croatia. By quite a lot - $4,000 - 6,000.
StamatisTzantopoulos@reddit
Mmm, when I google it gives me for Hungary $222.9bn GDP and per capita $23,310, whereas for Greece $257bn GDP and $24,752 per capita. But yeah they are effectively tied, and neither is a GDP to be proud of :)
Re PPP, as an economist I also recommend using nominal for international comparisons, although PPP has its merits. Happy to explain why.
JRJenss@reddit
Yes, that was the case last year. I was googling gdp in 2025. Those projections, especially by Statista and IMF are usually right or when they turn out to be slightly off, it's normally in favor of the country in question - meaning, the country ends up having even higher GDP.
I actually agree with you on GDP PPP, but when it comes to the EU members and even more so if they're in the eurozone as well, like Greece and Croatia...they can't really be viewed that way since they're part of the same market, in the case of the eurozone they even use the same currency, and are effectively under the same central bank. As for those few EU states that aren't yet in the eurozone, they all have their currencies pegged to the euro. Even Denmark who technically doesn't have to.
StamatisTzantopoulos@reddit
Ok, but 2025 isn't over so it's hard to comment.
Re PPP, it doesn't have to do with the currency, it's the metric itself. It gives you a better measure of the quality of life to some extent, but the problem is that it's skewed towards domestic production (esp nontraded services) which makes international comparisons sketchy. Sure, you may be able to buy 10 watermelons with 10 dollars if your country produces watermelons (Greece does), whereas in the UK for example you need 50 dollars to buy 1 watermelon, but how many laptops can you buy? Same for healthcare, education etc. We live in a globalised economy where many many products, say IT equipment, energy, even many services are internationally traded. Nominal metrics capture that more accurately.
JRJenss@reddit
It's not over but we're almost in the last quarter and the trends are clear.
As for the GDP PPP - I was thinking more in line of the EU having effectively changed everything. It's not merely a matter of currency (although the same currency does affect a lot of things), but also a matter of these states literally being part of the same market. This de facto means; for all intents and purposes, we can't really be talking about international relations when it comes to EU states. It's more like Germany - a federal state with a very different economy in the North compared to the West, South or East. And yet we don't talk about German economiES; the Bavarian economy, the Baden Wurttemberg or Rhine-Ruhr economy...etc. It's all one German economy, due to the fact it's part of the same market.
malollama@reddit
Not going to read all that. Just know you acting superior whether via Croatia or Hungary when you’re really not, it’s pretty sad.
Your country and Hungary’s economically is worse than Greece and Latin Europe (incl Romania) and culturally (language, history, food, music) A LOT worse. Since you like using the “A LOT”
JRJenss@reddit
Of course you're not going to read anything that's based on facts and evidence. But naturally you will use projection as a defense mechanism next. No, you! 😂😂
This is like talking to a kindergarten kid. At any event, whether you're actually a child or just a childish adult...quit lying.
malollama@reddit
Th gdp of Bucharest alone is bigger than Croatias. Romania has like a billion over Hungary. And by recent trends, the gap will only grow.
So i don’t know what “A LOT” means. And when did I mention Croatia? Very insecure of you. Chin up 2018.
JRJenss@reddit
Croatia is a Balkan country. You mentioned Balkan countries did you not?
Also, you're comparing apples and oranges by comparing absolute with relative numbers. Romania has 5 times larger population than Croatia and twice as large as Hungary. Both Croatian nominal GDP per capita and its PPP GDP per capita, are higher than Romanian. The same is true for Hungary compared to Romania.
And if you don't know what a lot means, just check the economies of other Balkan countries, especially those not in the EU. Their GDPs are at the level of third world countries. That's what A LOT means in this case. None of those countries are even close to Hungary.
malollama@reddit
You know you’re wrong 2018. Even then I’m sure the Romanians will take being Latin Europeans rather than Mongols but be a few euros poorer according to some stats.
But now compare Bucharest gdp per capita with Budapest and Zagreb and then come back. Not even going to mention Paris since you Croats and Hungarians like to claim be from Western Europe (you are NOT because you are A LOT poorer 2018).
So before you put others down in their own subreddit, look after your own.
JRJenss@reddit
I'm not wrong and I'm not putting anyone down. I merely corrected your BS about Hungary being poorer than the Balkans.
That said, why am I not surprised that the only reason you're lying about Hungary and you literally admitted it now, is the fact you are a racist. You are "sure" the Romanians will take being Latin Europeans rather than Mongols, but a few euros poorer, eh?
FYI...racism isn't tolerated on this subreddit, so shoo...go away.
malollama@reddit
Yea right I’m being racist yet you’re calling the non eu Balkans third world countries. Great job! And what did I say wrong about Mongols? Is it bad to have ancestry from Mongolia?
When did I admit to something that’s not true? Romania overtook Hungary in a lot of economical stats. Also, you didn’t respond to my comparison on the capitals.
JRJenss@reddit
Backpedaling already? Sure you're not a racist. You just implied it's better to be poor than being a Mongol...and even in that regard you're wrong because the Hungarians don't have Mongolian ancestry, you racist ignoramus.
Saying that gdp of most balkan countries is at the level of third world countries is simply a fact and unlike your racist BS it has no other implications.
And since for some reason you're insisting on comparison between Zagreb and Bucharest GDPs - Zagreb's was €30 billion last year whereas Bucharest's was €90 billion. Interestingly enough, the data for Zagreb pertains just to the city of Zagreb - population 770k, while the data for Bucharest includes its entire metro region - population 2.3 million. This means the city of Zagreb alone has 1/3 of the Bucharest's metro region population and 1/3 of that region's GDP - meaning the nominal GDP per capita is the same. Now, Zagreb's metro region has a population of 1.1 million, so if we compared the same set of data, namely; metro region to metro region, then Zagreb's GDP per capita would be slightly higher, but our statistical office doesn't calculate our cities' GDPs like that - by including their entire metro regions...and it ultimately doesn't matter.
corruptea@reddit
Literally look at any eurostat data that shows purchasing power and Romania has much more than Hungary and Croatia, only surpassed my Slovenia,
JRJenss@reddit
First of all nice handle there - corruptea! 😂😂
Secondly, yes I am aware of how cheap Romania still is. The question tho was the claim that Hungary is poorer than the Balkans. So chill, this isn't about Romania.
And finally: when I do look at the Eurostat data, it's normally not data from 3 years ago - this thing you linked is specifically about AIC - actual individual consumption from 2022. Right after the covid crisis. Even Turkey had a higher consumption power than Hungary or Croatia at the time. That's how relevant that data is.
malollama@reddit
Sounds to me like you’re coping 2018. Romania is richer than both Croatia and Hungary, not by a lot tho. Yet you’re acting as if Romania + other Balkans like Serbia are third world countries and on the same level as countries like Sri Lanka, Botswana, Colombia etc.
After all they’re in Europe, we’re better than 95% of the world’s countries, but seems that we like to compare and put others down when we ALL have it a lot better than most countries around the globe.
JRJenss@reddit
Oh look, the racist is back...trying to whitewash their previous statements more desperately than ever.
Look, perhaps you have some issues with memory or something, but let me remind you that this isn't about Romania. It is about your prejudices about the Hungarians - guess they're not European enough for you or some nonsense like that. Which is precisely why you made an absurd statement about Hungary being poorer than the Balkans.
I specifically said that the Balkan countries which are not in the EU, basically have third world economies. And at $9,000 - 10,000 per capita, that is simply a fact.
malollama@reddit
“Better to be poor”. According to some online metric, Hungary is (but it’s actually not, don’t know what sort of internet you guys have in Croatia) a few hundred euros richer. What about culture, language, music?
Id pick any day to be born Latin European than anything else including Hungarian, Scandinavian, Croatian etc, is that racist too? Just a personal preference as I love our languages, culture, food and music.
Not even going to comment on the last part, just yapping about random scenarios. Bucharest and Paris are both richer per capita.
JRJenss@reddit
Bucharest isn't richer per capita and are you seriously comparing Paris to Zagreb?? 😂😂 Oh boy...that's some serious superiority complex, surely connected to your racism - and no, you're not fooling anybody with this "cultural preference " nonsense. It is clear you are ethno nationalist, racist and a chauvinist on top of that. The entire trifecta. Likewise, your assertion about Romanians rather being poorer than Mongolian was an expression of pure racism and chauvinism. It most definitely was not talking about your personal cultural preferences. In fact using Mongols as a slur for Hungarians by people like you, is so usual and frequent, it's become utterly corny and unoriginal. At any event, you slipped up and showed your true face. The fact that you're now squirming about it and pretending you didn't mean it in the way it's usually meant, is kinda hilarious. 😅
ivanivanovivanov@reddit
I consider them honorary Balkan.
But they don't have the Byzantine and Ottoman influence that defines the whole Balkan thingie. Basically if we include Hungary, then we have to include Czechia and Slovakia as well, and if we include those, Poland is next. Next thing we know half of Europe is Balkan.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
Portugal is more Balkan than Hungary
Albon123@reddit
Oooooh, we do have the Ottoman influence. Like, they have been here shorter than most of the Balkans, sure, but they made their presence known FOR SURE. About half of our history is fighting against the Ottomans, and they occupied us for quite a bit still.
JRJenss@reddit
Same as Croatia. Not surprising given that we were in a union with Hungary during the Ottoman conquests. Nikola Šubić Zrinski who died defending Szeged is considered a hero in both Croatia and Hungary for instance. And so is the king Mathias Corvinus. Or as we call him - Matej Korvin.
Albon123@reddit
Yeah, we share a ton of history together. While we did have our…. clashes as well, I think people often ignore our common struggles, and there was a lot of it.
Is the other Zrinski your national hero as well? I mean the great grandson of the Nikola Zrinski you’re talking about, the one who led many successful campaigns against the Ottomans and was killed by a wild boar. Here in Hungary, he is sort of a big thing, and we remember him as this big national hero, he is probably even more well known than his great grandfather.
JRJenss@reddit
Yes he is, and so is his younger brother Peter Zrinski who was executed with Fran Krsto Frankopan In the Wiener Neustadt. The sentence passed was a conspiracy against Austria because they were the leaders of the movement for Croatian independence.
Albon123@reddit
They are also known in Hungary (as Péter Zrínyi and Ferenc Frangepán), albeit it’s taught more of as a conspiracy of nobles against an oppressive Habsburg king, Croatian independence isn’t really mentioned.
Albeit it definitely caused tensions within Hungary itself, and sort of indirectly lead to Rákóczi’s war of independence (fun fact: Ferenc Rákóczi, who led that war of independence against the Austrians was the son of another Ferenc Rákóczi, who took part in this conspiracy, and almost got executed, but was ultimately spared).
JRJenss@reddit
I'm not at all surprised they're known in Hungary and even that this Hungarian noble almost got executed for being involved, because at the beginning the movement had started with Croatian but also Hungarian nobility who were disappointed with Austrian inaction, as well as its general nonchalant attitude towards the Ottoman Empire during the first 100 years after Croatia and Hungary had joined the Habsburg Monarchy. These nobles from both countries were initially just trying to get Vienna to finally get moving against the Ottomans and help liberate the occupied Hungarian and Croatian territories, or at least to allow local Hungaro-Croatian forces to do it. This however wasn't allowed because both of our countries had to follow the Austrian/Habsburg foreign policy.
Only after failing at their appeals to the Viennese court, over and over and over again...the Croatian nobles decided to move on their own. Clearly, at least part of the Hungarian nobility was in on it and even decided to act together with the Croats. As the day of revolt and the offensive against the Ottomans drew nearer, the whole movement in Croatia (and now with the information you provided I'm thinking in Hungary too), started to adopt the elements of nationalism with the ultimate goal - if the military action succeeded, becoming first a greater autonomy...and eventually full independence of Croatia.
In the end, the Austrian spies won the day by informing Vienna about these goings on before anything happened. As a result, the Austrian revenge against these two most powerful noble families in Croatia was incredibly brutal - after they'd already beheaded Peter Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan. Their possessions were confiscated - many of them having been literally looted by the enforcers on the ground, the real estate was given away to foreign nobles, while their women such as Jelena Zrinski - the widow of Peter Zrinski, the sisters of the widows, their nieces...etc. were all either directly interned in house prisons or sent to convents.
Albon123@reddit
Oh, there were certainly a lot of Hungarian nobles as well. Ferenc Wesselényi was one of the main figures behind the conspiracy (to the point when we learn of it as the “Wesselényi conspiracy”), as well as Ferenc Nádasdy and the aforementioned Ferenc Rákóczi (we often make fun of how many people involved in the conspiracy were called “Ferenc”, as we also call Franz Krsto Frangopan as “Ferenc Frangepán” here). The main goal of Hungarian nobles in the conspiracy was to get rid of the centralization of Habsburgs and like you said, have a stronger action against the Ottomans. I think the Croats might have had a secondary goal then, their autonomy and independence.
And yes, the response was brutal, Nádasdy was also executed (Wesselényi died of natural causes before the conspiracy was found out). It is often taught that confiscation of noble properties was also used by the Habsburgs to boost their revenues, as they were running out of money thanks to the Ottoman campaigns, so much more nobles had their properties confiscated, even ones who had nothing to do with conspiracy.
Also, wasn’t Jelena Zrinski the daughter of Peter Zrinski? Because she was also the mother of Ferenc Rákóczi (the one who led our war of independence, the son of the older Ferenc Rákóczi who took part in the conspiracy).
JRJenss@reddit
Oh wow...I didn't know that many Hungarians were involved. Thanks for the info.
Also, yes you are right - I confused Peter Zrinski's wife and daughter. Jelena indeed was his daughter and the mother of Franz/Ferenc Rákóczi. The wife was Katarina Zrinski.
Anyhow, we now have a petition to the Croatian Parliament to annul this "conspiracy" verdict based upon multiple procedural mistakes, and furthermore due to the material part of the accusation, which is unlawful as well. This is because the exact same articles from the Croatian-Hungarian settlement of 1102. had been included in the Hungary and Croatia's accession agreement with the Habsburgs. Specifically, these are the articles pertaining to the right of the local, native nobility to confront the king, up to the open rebellion, if all diplomacy is exhausted and fails...in case the king isn't respecting the lawful and agreed upon rights of the nobles and/or is not respecting the Croatian interests. Of course, this petition is very far from being even remotely important nowadays but it is there, and it has a very good case in terms of the legal arguments.
Aenjeprekemaluci@reddit
I think many words in your language are Turkic loanwords right?
Albon123@reddit
Yuppp, a lot, although it’s debated whether this is because of Ottoman influence, or the historical Magyar migrations when they also settled in Turkic inhabited areas for a while.
Aenjeprekemaluci@reddit
Ironically enough, i am kinda looking into Uralic langauges and when Magyars migrated, there were Turkic tribes like Bulgars, Cumans, Pechengs etc already there and many loanwords in Hungarian seem to be very old borrowed.
Albon123@reddit
Bulgars lived in large numbers in the Carpathian Basin when the Magyars arrived, as a bunch of it was under the control of the Bulgarian Empire, so there was quite a bit of mixing there.
Cumans are a weird case. I don’t know how much mixing was with them initially when we arrived, but we did spend like two centuries fighting with them. But ultimately, Cumans settled down in Hungary on the orders of Béla IV when the Mongols started to attack them (they later attacked Hungary too). The Cumans became completely assimilated later on, and nowadays, we even have two counties, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Bács-Kiskun (note: “kun” means “Cuman”) which carry their names. So, I don’t know how much they already lived here, or how much Magyars had contact with them, as they only show up in our history books at around the 1060s/1070s. But it is possible that there was some mixing/contact with them before, their large-scale assimilation just happened much later.
Aenjeprekemaluci@reddit
I dont. They are not Balkan by any means. Their language is closest to Khanty and Mansi in Ural and Western Siberia. They have central european legacy which we dont. So no
Puzzleheaded_Sir903@reddit
Just rename Europe to Balkan. 😆
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
What's racist about stating the historical truth, that Hungary is historically and culturally more connected to countries like Czechia, Austria or Slovenia than to Serbia or Bulgaria?
It's just not in the Balkans, what even are we supposed to explain here?
antisa1003@reddit
It is culturally and historically more connected to Croatia. If Croatia is Balkan, so is Hungary.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
Hungary is culturally 0% Balkan
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
Typical Croatian mental gymnastics
antisa1003@reddit
That's your level of gymnastics. I've just used your logic against you.
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
Cope harder; at least half of your country is nothing like Hungary.
antisa1003@reddit
There is nothing to cope since It's your logic, not mine.
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
And i am willing to apply the same logic for Croatia IF it makes sense, sure, Medjimurje for example isn't historically part of the Balkans, but the vast majority of Croatia is.
antisa1003@reddit
And how it doesn't make sense that Hungary is Balkan becuase Croatia is Balkan?
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
Because the part of Croatia that's similar to Hungary is culturally very different from literally all Balkan countries, they influenced your people, not the other way round.
antisa1003@reddit
Then, Croatia is not Balkan, using your logic.
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
Croatia as a whole is undeniably Balkan, no matter how much Croats hate being called such, this SPECIFIC REGION of Croatia is indeed not Balkan historically and culturally, is my statement clear enough now?
antisa1003@reddit
How can Croatia be Balkan lf we look at historical ans cultural 800 years of joint history with Hungary?
You said it yourself, historical and cultural connection is relevant to determine the region/position of the country.
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
Okay, get rid of Dalmatia and Lika, and tell Bosnian Croats they're not Croatian, replace the Croats in Slavonia with Hungarians, and then I'll accept you are more similar to Hungarians than to Balkanites.
antisa1003@reddit
Don't need to. The logic you are using says that either Hungary is Balkan or Croatia isn't.
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
You really struggle with English comprehension, don't you?
antisa1003@reddit
I do not have that problem. But you fail to see how your logic fails. I'm not sure if your problem is to say Hungary is Balkan or Croatia isn't.
ZhiveBeIarus@reddit
The only real problem is that you're not particularly intelligent, but that's a you problem.
antisa1003@reddit
The only non-itelligent person here is you. Because I caught you in your dumb logic.
You either need to say Hungary is Balkan (and piss in your own mouth), Croatia is not Balkan (which you won't for whatever reason), or admit your logic is dumb. Either way, you must pick something you do no want.
I'm going to quote you words even to better explain what your option are.
If you are stating historical fact. Then, it's not a problem to state a historic fact that Croatia and Hungary have 800 years of joint history.
It's more connected to Croatia. Check quote one
Well, if it's not in the Balkans (as you said), per first and second quote, Croatia isn't also.
But, you are stating, Croatia is Balkan. Then, per first and second quote, Hungary is also Balkan.
PomegranateOk2600@reddit
I consider them being Balkanic, go to a rural village in Hungary and one in Serbia or Romania, they look the same
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
they don’t really look that similar, and their culture is nothing alike.
No-Can2216@reddit
As a hungarian culturally I feel us being much closer to the other V4 countries. I have lived in Bulgaria for a while and Balkan people are much more warm, they have amazing hospitality etc, we're more closed off people I think. I wish we would have more balkanic mentality, but sadly it's not the case.
GreenGritChronicles@reddit
By this logic, Ukraine is also Balkan because the villages look the same
NightZT@reddit
I wouldn't say that's balkanic but Pannonian, villages in eastern Slovenia, north-eastern Croatia and eastern Austria also look identical
Itsgxl@reddit
Went to uni in Hungary. They basically think they're too good for the Balkans. A big portion of their history revolves around a pissing contest with Austria where they lost every single time. That's why Budapest is magnificent and designed to compete with Wien while the rest of the country looks EXACTLY Balkan as fuck. Watch the national CZARDAS dance and tell me they ain't Balkan lol.
DifferentSurvey2872@reddit
I’ve been to many Hungarian cities and towns. Still better than 85-90% of balkans. Also, they are definitely not balkan
JRJenss@reddit
They ain't Balkan. Not every underdeveloped country - which Hungary btw isn't, is automatically Balkans. And what about that dance?? It is Finno-Ugric. According to your criteria Lapland in Scandinavia or Kazahstan would be the Balkans. Also, besides Hungary, northern Serbia, northern Croatia and the north of Slovenia aren't the Balkans either. Neither is the Transylvanian part of Romania or Moldova.
Pedre79@reddit
Are you talking in geographical terms?
JRJenss@reddit
Yes but not only in geographical terms. There's also architecture, culture, tradition, food...etc.
Then you also have examples of territories that are geographically Balkans but in terms of everything else they aren't. Those would be southern Slovenia, western Croatia, Dalmatian islands and the coastline, and probably even the Montenegrin coastline. It's enough to visit these places just once to realize they culturally have very little or in some cases nothing to do with the Balkans. It's like Slavic Italy basically.
Shatter_Their_World@reddit
Transylvania and Moldova (Both the Republic of Moldova and the region that is part of Romania now.), geographically are mostly above the straight line that would define the Balkans, only a small part in the south of the regions. However, culturally they are Balkanic, due to the Romanian majority, that share not just language, but culture and folklore. The Central European arhitecture from Transylvania is from the previous centuries, when Transylvania was under Austrian, then Austro-Hungarian dominance, not being an expression of the Romanian majority. Perhaps the Szekely Land could be considered non-Balkanic, due to Hungarian majority, only if you consider Hungary to be non-Balkanic culturally. I would say that Transylvania is a Balkan area with strong Central European Influences, like I say about the Republic of Moldova that is a Balkan area with strong East Slavic influences (Russian and Ukrainian). I am Romanian and I know my culture and folklore pretty well to state this cultural unity.
eggressive@reddit
Yeah I know well what you mean about the culture. But I visited Hungary this year and their country still looked better than the one in my own country.
Itsgxl@reddit
Have you been to the countryside or was it just Budapest?
eggressive@reddit
Lot of country side. Stayed over at Szeged. Their roads need some work but the villages were nice and clean.
Substratas@reddit
Albon123@reddit
It wasn't really a contest, outside of the campaigns of Matthias Corvinus, the Austrians were always very clearly the dominant ones, and we fought for our independence against them A LOT (we had two major wars of independence and three smaller ones, and that's not mentioning the multiple rebellions and guerilla wars). We were just lucky enough that we happened to be the ones included in the compromise of 1867 and formed Austria-Hungary later on, as Austria became militarily isolated and even threatened.
unpopularthinker@reddit
Because Balkan is peninsula and every peninsula has its natural borders. Rivers Sava and Danube are main north border.
tayfazon@reddit
Znaci ja iz Vojvodine sam zapravo deo mitteleurope. Najs
Big_Beast2236@reddit
Ваљда си учио то у школи 😭
tayfazon@reddit
To je kao trebala da bude šala, no dobro. Mi i dalje ovde imamo plate, obaveze i probleme pribliznije prosecnom stanovniku Ćuprije nego prosecnom stanovniku Praga.
Big_Beast2236@reddit
Опрости мојој дискексији која је то прочитала саркастичним тоном
tayfazon@reddit
A jebem ga, zbunim se i ja nekada. Izvinite i sa moje strane.
unpopularthinker@reddit
Strašno koliko ljudi ovde osnovnu geografiju ne znaju.
DifficultWill4@reddit
Even those are arbitrary. A peninsula is usually a peace of land surrounded by the sea on three sides. Anything north of Trieste shouldn’t be considered part of the peninsula
Shatter_Their_World@reddit
The rivers are a conventional limit. Basically, the Balkan peninsula would have its geographical northern limits in a straight line from Istria to the end of the Dnister river (or close). That would make southern Romania, the Wallachia and Oltenia region completely in the Balkans, not just Dobrogea, as a large part of the Romanian Banat and small part in the south of Transylvania and Moldovo. Taking the rivers are northen limit kinda leaves in the north an empty part, where southern Romania and Moldova are, and that makes no sense, in geographic terms.
antisa1003@reddit
It's not a peninsula. Everything can be a peninsula in that sense.
Hell, I could draw a line from southern border of France to the northern part of the Netherlands and call it a peninsula.
unpopularthinker@reddit
Vidi se da je neko bežao iz škole.
antisa1003@reddit
Sve sto sam rekao stoji.
577564842@reddit
Except it isn't (peninsula).
ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit
Even been to Szentendre, conveniently located on the South Bank of the Danube, and maybe the northernmost outpost of the Balkans, just a little north of Buda?
eggressive@reddit
StamatisTzantopoulos@reddit
Αn honorary member with some similarities and some differences culturally and historically. Strictly geographically they are not part of the Balkan peninsula.
Kranvagen@reddit
Must know Balkan border
Affectionate_Kiwi719@reddit
Balkan only can be used in cotnex as its used originaly. At that time those under Balkan were under Ottoman and Hu they werent, so that would be reason.
They are not wrong with claiming that they are in middle of Europe.
sjedinjenoStanje@reddit
The Balkans are a mountain chain. Balkan countries are those with at least some part of those mountains in their territory. Hungary doesn't have any.
unpopularthinker@reddit
Your theory is wrong because Balkan mountains are mostly located in Bulgaria with part in Serbia.
antisa1003@reddit
His theory is mostly correct. The term Balkans started due to countries around the Balkan mountains started a revolution against Ottomans and then fought themselves.
unpopularthinker@reddit
Balkan countries are countries that are located on Balkan Peninsula. HEMUS was original name of the peninsula and also that was name of the mountains. Balkan as term is ottoman. Only right is that names were changed during ottomans.
antisa1003@reddit
That's incorrect. Because the term Balkan has a historic reason, not geographical.
Yes, and it doesn't matter.
Well, yes, because the term started when the revolution against the Ottomans started and the mountain was called Balkan.
antisa1003@reddit
Franco-Iberian countries are countries that are located on the Franco-Iberian peninsula are following Portugal, Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium.
Hell, it does even make more sense since all countries where at one point under Spain ot France.
GreenGritChronicles@reddit
Because they are not in the Balkans?
SnooWoofers7603@reddit
Most likely the OP have no studied geography.
wereallfuckedL@reddit
Because nobody can understand them except Finnish people. The language sounds like it was gifted to them by an alien race.
LifeAcanthopterygii6@reddit
Finns understand us just as much as a Bulgarian trying to understand Hindi.
Wooden-Practice8508@reddit
They like to wankfest about their Empire, they're too good for the Balkan
Frederico_de_Soya@reddit
Have you ever met Hungarians, they just don’t belong to Balkans, mentally they are much closer to Polish or other northern nations.
antisa1003@reddit
Hard disagree. As someone who has a lot of Hungarian friends, they are a lot like continental Croatians.
SrpskiMagyarMexHybrd@reddit
Hungarians really aren’t anything tbh. Just a combination of people groups. They think their germanic/austrian influence and past makes them honorary germans lol. Its why i don’t like my hungarian part of my family, they’re stuck up
Active_Drawing_1821@reddit
Because Hungary IS central European?
Albon123@reddit
We have a lot in common with all sorts of countries nearby from all sorts of regions, either because we used to rule them in the past, or they ruled over us, or heavy mixing. We have many similarities with Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia at the same time, and these countries are all from different regions inside Europe. If you look at it like that, "Central Europe" actually makes sense, though I am not the biggest fan of that argument, because it is indeed often used by many as a way to look down on Eastern Europe.
But still, I am not sure that you are exactly correct with that assessment. The majority of people who vbery, VERY strongly insist that we are "Central European, not one of those dirty Eastrern Europeans or Balkaners" hate their Hungarianness most of all, and worship Western Europe, and want to be exactly like them, because in their minds, it is the only thing that can make us developed and rich. It is exactly the opposite of cultural supremacist ideas, they are stuck in a time when "post-communist" countries are backwards and poor, and Western countries are heaven.
outlanderfhf@reddit
Odd, I heard somewhere that way back, there used to be negative views on the german world which stemmed from the fact that some magyar nobility started to prefer marrying women from german families rather than other magyar women and then with time these negative views extended to other german “things”( I think it was about kings and queens specifically)
tinmanjk@reddit
Geography?
unpopularthinker@reddit
Some people here talk like they never went to school.
Such-Win4653@reddit
Portugal is more Balkan than Hungary... Even Lebanon in the right point of view is more Balkan than Hungary! The real reasons why we have discussed a lot in this sub! I dont know how to tagg another sub here but please there is a whole sub dedicated to Portugal being Balkans 😂
Hazard___7@reddit
Because it's not in the Balkans.
Altruistic-Effect251@reddit
Bosnia used to be Austria-Hungary, so we can't ignore that influence.
Vaisiamarrr@reddit