In the mid- to late 1980s, Hungary attached particular importance to relations with Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, because each of these countries contained rather large Hungarian minorities. A common culture and language, as well as family ties, linked Hungarians in these countries to Hungary. The Romanian government and, to a lesser extent, the Czechoslovak government have subjected their Hungarian minorities to various forms of political and cultural oppression. On the one hand, Hungarian public opinion has pressured the HSWP leadership and the government to work for the amelioration of the harsh circumstances of Hungarians in neighboring countries. The regime, seeking to strengthen its legitimacy within Hungarian society, has taken up the cause of Hungarians living abroad. On the other hand, the prospect of open discord within the Soviet alliance system has restrained Hungarian criticism of Romanian and Czechoslovak nationality policies.

Data as of September 1989