Let's shake hands!
Presentations of Hungary
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Dear Colleagues,
The President of CERP asked me to speak about Hungary and the Hungarian Communication of the joining to European Union today, here in this CERP Seminar.
Before I speak about this topic, I would like to mention some personal things in connection with this theme.
I held a lecture in 1996 in Budapest about the role of the public relations in the changing society at the Budapest IPRA World Seminar. Next year, in 1997, the same topic was discussed in my speech in Helsinki at the IPRA World Congress, in the Finlandia Palace, where the Helsinki Document was signed.
In the Budapest event I spoke about the role of the public relations amongst the new political and economical circumstances. Next year I spoke about the role of the pr in the changed societies.
I would like to cite my words:
“After seven years of the political and economical system changing, we can speak absolutely open-wide about the communications, among the changing society’s circumstances.
This is a very important part of the newly born democracies. Because the next statement is one of the most important in our profession:
I would like to speak about the role of the communications not only in our country, but in the Central and Eastern European region as well. Central and Eastern Europe has undergone radical political and economic changes, in the recent years, which was the theme for the Budapest IPRA Public Relations Seminar organised last year:
„The role of the communication in changing societies”.
The recent political changes in Central and Eastern Europe have brought a new vision of the democracy to the nations of the region.
The challenges of the changes are not only political, but economical and cultural as well. It is quite natural, that in consequence of this transformation of the society, the changes of the communication are necessary.
Therefore the communication has a new and more important role in the changing societies. Furthermore a new type of the dialogue between the Western and the eastern part of the world is needed. Last may the IPRA Hungarian Chapter and the HPRA organised in Budapest the International PR Week.
When the Organising Committee started to collect the themes I consulted some of our IPRA colleges, for instance from South Africa, from Australia, and Asia. The result of these consultancies was that their problems are similar to ours.
These societies are now developing their own democracy, and it has reflection on PR. The former US President George Bush said in 1992 in Washington, when the Hungarian Prime Minister visited USA: „Hungary is not an emerging democracy any more. It is a democracy.” To some of the Western part of the world means communism has gone, freedom has arrived.
But the problems of Central and Eastern Europe did not vanish with the arrival of freedom and democracy. We are just approaching the end of the phase one, taking stock and realizing where we are and what we inherited.
I know we have many, many problems with our new freedom, and the development of democracy. But we have problems not only with ourselves, but I know the Western part of the world has many problems with us. Obviously we have problems with the Western part of the world, too.
We see a tendency in our days that the world is changing and within that, there are a number of societies, which undergo a rapid change. Let us think of South America, South Africa, South - East Asia e.g. Hong-Kong, and naturally last, but not least the societies of Central-Eastern Europe.
The most evident changes can be seen in the societies of the ex-socialist countries, where first of all the ownership is undergoing a privatization process, the capital is going to be concentrated, and the free market economy is starting to develop. The same is true for the democracy. In these countries the content of the democracy should be newly defined. I think that the problems are similar in Africa, in Far East, and in Central Europe, only the forms of the problems are different. E.g., we have ethnical problems with the Gypsies; it is the same problems as in US with e.g. the Puerto Rico’s people. A very big part of these problems are related to communications problems. For instance, I would like to speak about some absolutely private feelings. Few years ago I was the Public Relations Director of a French origin multinational company. The Hungarian employees had communications problems with the French colleagues. Why? Because the Hungarian employees had the feeling of being colonized. When I gave a report to the company Communications Council, the French colleagues did not understand the problem. And it was not a language problem. It was an intercultural communications problem.
But it was the same situation with the members of the IPRA. I would like to present an example of the developing of the mind of the IPRA people. In 1988 when the IPRA seminar was organized in Vienna the IPRA members visited Budapest, behind the iron curtain for only two days. Two years later in Toronto, the 6 PR experts, and the small Hungarian official delegation was the curiosity of the IPRA World Congress.
In 1993 in Paris when I was the first ex-socialist member of the jury of the Golden World Award, I felt myself, really a European, because Mr. Alain Modouix the Chairman of the Jury said to the UN officials when he introduced the members of the jury: „I am sorry, but this panel is a western oriented jury. Nobody came from the East.”
This was the point when I felt myself wonderful, and the first time as an equal, emancipated member of Europe.”
In Helsinki, in 1997 I started my speech with a shocking statement:
“I came from beyond the iron-curtain. Yes, you hear well. I said - beyond the iron -curtain. You say, the iron - curtain does not exist any more. It has been destroyed. Perhaps, but are you sure in it? I am not. In reality, the mine barrage has been terminated, but did they abolish the blockade in the heads on both sides of the iron curtain? This question can not be answered simply by yes.
May I illustrate my point with an example? I was PR director in a Hungarian - French joint company. In 1992, I participated in the Strategical Advisory Management meeting in France. I got into a dispute with my Italian colleague. The topic of our discussion was that Hungary should not be accepted for EU membership. My Italian origin French colleague stated: Hungary will be a member of the EU as long as it achieves the same niveau as France did, which could be only after 30-40 years from now on. Till this time Hungary should remain beyond the iron curtain.
I would like to say another example:
If I would like to travel to USA, I have to apply for a visa. This is not a problem. The problem is the process and the bureaucracy. The process is, before I could apply the visa, I have to phone the US Embassy. This telephone call has not a normal tariff, but twenty folds tariff, which means that this call is more expensive then to call US from Hungary. By the way I wish to mention, that only one phone number exists for whole Hungary. In this call I get an appointment date to the US Embassy, when a personal meeting comes, when I have the possibility to handle over the visa application. Then I have to wait more than four weeks to get an answer.
I sincerely hope that this view is diminishing in today’s Europe. I hope the iron curtain thinking - mentality is finished!
Why do I think it?
I think it because we, PR experts can help the people to change their mind and contribute to cease the iron-curtain mentality. This is why I would like to suggest to both sides: let's finally shake hands!
The communication in the changing societies has an important, new role.
For instance in Hungary: Following the first free elections, the new Hungarian government promised to develop the social market economy, but when it came to accelerating the market reforms, radically transforming the ownership relations, the government did not apply a shock therapy. Between 1990 and 1994, Hungary failed to take advantage of the fact that its market was much more developed than that of other eastern countries.
In the last period of the 20th century, the world recognized new word: glasnost. Another significant event happened: the Berlin wall was destroyed.
This wall was the symbol of the cold war. These two events determined the image of the world. The new democracies, in the eastern part of Europe were born in this political environment.
Some weeks ago in Budapest was organized a professional seminar, called EU PR Discussion Days. It was a 3 days event. Last day we discussed, with 9 panelists the following question: What is the connection between the public relations and the media? I gave the opening lecture in this event. In my speech I compared the main problems of the Public Relations in the new democracies.
I think this is not only a problem in our country, but also we can hear wrong arguments about the PR in other countries as well.
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For instance: The PR is the part of marketing, or the marketing is the part of PR. Another mistake is when the management thinks, that the PR is equal to the media work. It is a typical mistake: To change the role of the Advertising and the PR. Advertisements are considered as a PR and so on. These statements use wrong arguments. The truth is, the PR and the Marketing are brothers, but not twins.
Both are the function of the management, but they should be separated. Both have a management function. But they have other tasks and goals as well.
I was in Russia this year. I heard a newly born – ex-socialist phenomenon:
It is the BLACK PR.
What does the black pr mean?
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In the European PR Discussion Days 2002 in Budapest Thomas Achelis, the President of CERP spoke about the importance of the country image. Mr. Z.J. Gál, the spokesmen of the Hungarian government gave few basic information about the communication policy of the Hungarian Government and Mr. G. Tábori, Deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has spoken about the Communication Strategy of the connection of EU.
The Hungarian Communication Strategy for the Accession
Nowadays, after the 2002 elections, one of them the Hungarian Parliament and the other of the local municipalities the main topic has become the Hungarian joining to the EU.
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What questions did the Government and the majority of Members of the Parliament place?
· When?
· How?
And what are the questions of the local people? They have only two questions.
· What will be the consequences?
· What will happen after the joining?
The discussion between the coalition (Hungarian Socialist Party and the Free Democrats – left side), the governmental parties and the opposition (right side: Young Democrats. Hungarian Civil Party and the Hungarian Democratic Forum):
· The statement of the opposition: We name the conditions
· The main question: Negotiations: We continue the negotiations on the basis of EU conditions with own remarks in order to achieve best possible conditions.
The Government has to answer the questions of the people. Therefore they prepared a Communication Strategical Plan.
The basis of the Hungarian Communication Strategy:
Hungary accepts shares and supports the goals and principles of the EU Communication Strategy for enlargement - derives her own Communication Strategy for the Accession.
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The main points of the Hungarian Communication Strategical Plan are:
A decision was achieved. Hungary can join EU in the year 2004.
In Hungary the citizens decide whether they wish to accept this possibility or not?
That is why it is necessary to supply adequate information to the Hungarian society to prepare the public for successful membership and a public referendum about Hungary's access to EU in spring 2003.
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The Hungarian Government in its Communication Strategy gives global and medium terms (2-3 years). The governmental EU communication should be decentralised:
An umbrella opened to the ministries possessing vast knowledge, to the local governments, municipalities and with their help to other groups of society.
The Communication Strategy should be decentralized through four channels:
· Governmental,
· Regional,
· professional - interest groups
· civil
The Hungarian CS is accommodating to the Communication Strategy for Enlargement announced in EU and candidate countries.
The Communication Strategy relies on different results of research.
Communication challenges and risks
Social problems:
The Hungarian society is two poled in the question of joining EU. According to the research the 2/3-rd of the Hungarian population supports EU access.
Lack of appropriate language knowledge
In Hungary the knowledge of foreign languages is extremely low.
Illusions
The Hungarian public has a idealistic picture about consequences of access to EU.
Organizational challenges
(GO and NGO) The Hungarian citizen generally has no idea where to go for information
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Goals of the CS
A. Successful EU membership
The condition for successful EU membership is, that everybody would be familiar with following topics:
· the effects of the EU membership
· the consequences of EU membership
· the possibilities arising from EU membership
· the tasks to be done in the frame of EU
B. personal identification with EU membership
The citizen’s decision is unavoidable for EU access. The referendum means the situation for the decision. For positive decision emotional and spiritual identification is necessary. The identification means empathy of the Hungarian population to the European values. These goals should be reached by the Communication Strategy.
Interest: The communication is successful in case the individual recognize its own interest in countries’ joining EU.
Personal affect: The CS should acknowledge, that the access influence the family living, personal life.
Values: The EU values should be shown through the mutual cultural heritage, democracy, the fair-play business culture, tolerance, solidarity etc.
Arguments: to help the decision-making through denying the delusions
Emotions: to develop personal emotional engagement to the Referendum
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Values
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Implementation
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As a PR practitioner I wish the blockade and the iron curtain would cease in everybody’s mind. We should become European PR practitioners and interpreters for Europe. Let us be on the bridge to help our people establish mutual understanding, as our aim can not be other than to contribute to the integrating Europe.
