A NATO-csatlakozás és a média
Of those Central and Eastern European countries that waited for NATO membership, only Hungary held a public referendum on the matter. While the Polish public were incredibly supportive of the issue, in Hungary and the Czech Republic, the public was divided, despite the enthusiasm of political leaders. The government, the Parliament and the parliamentary parties had done everything in the year prior to the referendum to persuade voters of the advantages of NATO membership. The parties continuously debated the referendum, which was not planned in the budget or of clear legality. But the stakes were enormous for NATO, the region and the country. In this internationally sensitive position, A PR strategy was developed despite a lack of time and finances or previous similar experience. The efforts were effective. Hungarian citizens said “yes” to accession; in other words, they bought the “NATO product”. The public relations and marketing – involving the government, the Ministry of Defense and covert, latent strategies can be called successful because 85% of those voted said “yes”. But if we consider that fewer than 50% of those eligible to vote actually did so – not reaching the legal minimum and that it was validated only by a change in elections law, then we can only be sure of partial effect.