ABSTRACT
This chapter does not aim at describing the almost two-decade long history of territorial reforms in Hungary, it is rather going to analyse the motivations and forces behind the various reform measures. The external/foreign pressure for modernising/rescaling the counties was the main reason why Hungarians were against every territorial reform, assuming that behind the official reform, the real ambition was centralisation and the replacement of the county elite. The slogans of 'Europe of Regions' or 'New Regionalism' were dominating public policy literature and EU regulations, so the Hungarian elite could use it in its argumentation that regionalism would be the successful way for or road to Europe. Twenty years after the systemic change we have to admit that without solving the social and economic problems it is not possible to build a stable ground for modern forms of governance. The increasing number of questions and uncertainties imply that there are no axioms or minimum standards in regionalisation and territorial governance.
