German investors fed up with Orbán’s policies: will they leave Hungary?
According to Bloomberg, German investors in Hungary are discontented with PM Orbán’s policies. They say the Hungarian government is trying to oust foreign companies in several business areas. Furthermore, the ever-changing regulations do not provide a favourable background for their long-term plans. Will Audi, Mercedes, BMW, and Rheinmetall leave in the long run?
According to atv.hu‘s summary of Bloomberg’s article in the issue, the “love affair” between the Hungarian political leadership and the German investors may end. And that may undermine the economic development plans of the Orbán cabinet.
Cold war starts between the Hungarian government and the German investors?
Based on the American news outlet, after the fall of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe, there was a special relationship between the German capital and the Hungarian governments.
Therefore, German carmakers like Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and weapons maker Rheinmetall came to Hungary and found favourable conditions to generate huge profits thanks to the hardworking, trained Hungarian workforce and the favourable conditions the Hungarian governments created.
However, the Orbán cabinet lately tries to push out foreign companies from “an ever-expanding swath” of the Hungarian economy. And that is what German investors do not like.
“The situation for foreign investors in Hungary is ‘frightening’,” says the deputy chairman of the Berlin-based German Eastern Business Association.
What do they complain about?
German investors are especially “pissed off” because of the ever-changing legislative environment, the extra taxes and regulatory pressure. For example, the Hungarian government started a “cold war” with German retail chain Spar this year. About the last “round” of that “war” we wrote in THIS article.
Bloomberg believes the timing of entering into a conflict with the German investors could be better. That is because the Hungarian economy is struggling (HERE), and German investments plunged by a third between 2021 and 2024. Finally, there is a rising star winning the hearts of the opposition (and even Fidesz) voters. Péter Magyar may even threaten Orbán’s granite-solid system in the long run.
Dobrev-Scholz “summit” is a bad sign for Orbán
There is an additional sign that the German-Hungarian political relationship is dealing with issues. Klára Dobrev, the shadow prime minister of Former PM Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition, met with German chancellor Olaf Scholz.
She shared a photo with the chancellor who met with PM Orbán behind closed doors before but did not issue a communiqué about what they talked about. Meanwhile, Dobrev said they agreed they would never become allies with powers building on hatred and division. “Because they are threatening Europe’s unity, endangering democracy and everything we, Social Democrats are fighting for”, Dobrev concluded.
Macron did not meet with opposition leaders “like that”
This is not the first time DK’s European party-list leader and the wife of Gyurcsány met with Scholz in 2022, infostart.hu wrote.
Scholz’s meetings with Dobrev show clearly that the German-Hungarian relationship could be better. For example, President Macron visited Hungary before the 2022 general elections but met with the opposition leaders only at the French Embassy in Budapest, and they sat on a couch, a symbol that the French leaders did not regard them as the leaders of Hungary.
French-Hungarian cooperation instead of continuing the ‘love affair’ with Germany?
His policy was advantageous for him. After the 2022 general elections, they became allies with Orbán in the European Union. Media wrote about French-Hungarian joint businesses, and Hungary sent a military mission to Chad, one of the last bastions of the former French North African colony.
Interestingly, Gáspár Orbán, PM Orbán’s only son, had been a member of that mission. He constantly tried to hide behind columns and hats from the cameras, but the media managed to take some photos of him in the war-torn African country. We covered that issue HERE.
Read also:
- Hungarian economy minister Nagy meets German counterpart in Berlin – Details in THIS article
- Groundbreaking ceremony for defence giant Rheinmetall in Hungary – click HERE for the photos and the details
Featured image: Viktor Orbán and Olaf Scholz in October 2022 in Berlin. Worried faces.
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