Croatia–Hungary relations

The foreign relations between Croatia and Hungary are bound together by shared history, political development and geography. The two states established diplomatic relations on 18 January 1992 following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the independence of Croatia.

In 1102 the previously independent Kingdom of Croatia and Kingdom of Hungary entered personal union and the two were henceforth ruled by the same monarch. Following the Ottoman conquests and a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Croatian nobility elected the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I as the new king of Croatia. The Hungarian nobility was divided, but the Habsburgs annexed the Kingdom of Hungary, keeping Croatia and Hungary under a single crown. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Croatia sided with the Austrians, so the Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić helped Austria to defeat the Hungarian forces in 1849, ushering in a period of Germanisation. By the 1860s the failure of this policy became apparent, leading to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the creation of a personal union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The issue of Croatia's status was resolved by the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868, when the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia were united into the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Following the breakup of Austria-Hungary after its defeat in World War I, the Croatian Parliament declared independence on 29 October 1918 and decided to join the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, ending Habsburg rule and the personal union with Hungary after 816 years. Through the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost Međimurje County and the southern part of Baranya to Croatia. Since World War II, relations between two states have been defined by cooperation with Nazis, Soviets and Yugoslavia until the revolutions of 1989 and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Hungary recognised Croatian independence with the rest of the European Economic Community in 1992, and supported Croatia during the Croatian War of Independence.

Croatian and Hungarian high-ranking officials usually meet several times a year. Trade between Croatia and Hungary amounted $1.020 bln in 2012, largely consisting of Hungarian exports to Croatia. Hungarian tourists contribute significantly to Croatian tourism; in 2009, a total of 323,000 visited Croatia, including the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who has spent his summer holidays in Dalmatia for last few decades. Both countries coordinate the development of cross-border infrastructure. Pan-European corridors Vb and Vc connect Budapest to the Adriatic Sea via Zagreb and Osijek. Both countries have sizable minorities living across their common border, and both have passed laws to protect their minority rights.

Croatia and Hungary are parties to 96 bilateral treaties and members of a number of multinational organizations, including NATO and the European Union. Croatia has an embassy in Budapest a general consulate in Pécs and a consulate in Nagykanizsa, while Hungary has an embassy in Zagreb, a general consulate in Osijek and honorary consulates in Rijeka, Split and Dubrovnik.