Rabat — Hungarian Ambassador to Morocco Miklós Tromler still remembers his family’s puzzled looks when he told them he wanted to move to the North African country. It was 2014, and the Hungarian diplomat had just been offered a position as deputy head of mission in the capital city of Rabat. Back in Central Europe, Morocco remained largely an unknown territory.
“Everybody was inquiring, why Morocco? Why that country?” Tromler recalled in a recent exclusive interview with Morocco World News (MWN). “It was mainly because of the lack of knowledge and information about Morocco. In Central Europe, people don’t obviously think about North Africa at first sight.”
But the once public servant had done his homework, and he saw opportunity in a country most Hungarians overlooked. Eleven years later, as Hungary’s ambassador to Morocco, he has helped transform that relationship into one of his country’s most dynamic partnerships in Africa.
The journey from professional water polo player to diplomat wasn’t a straight path, but Tromler insists his athletic career prepared him perfectly for the embassy halls of Rabat.
The sportsman’s approach to diplomacy
In Hungary, water polo isn’t just a sport — it’s a national passion. Tromler grew up dreaming of Olympic gold, competing for national and club teams across Hungary, Italy, and France. The discipline, he says, taught him lessons no classroom could.
“Learning by doing in the swimming pool gave me solid and even international skills that I could then apply in my everyday life,” Tromler said. “How to adapt to a teammate, leading a team, managing stress, being oriented, focusing on a specific goal — this is probably the skills that water polo shaped me and gave me in diplomacy.”
After retiring from professional sports, Tromler earned four university diplomas and worked in the private sector in France. When he returned to Hungary in 2011 with his newborn child, he planned to continue in business. Jobs were scarce, though, and friends in government suggested he get into public service instead.
“We gave a few years to that opportunity,” he said with a smile. “And today we are here in Morocco.”
The transition surprised him with its ease. His first posting in Rabat came as deputy head of mission. When the former ambassador departed for another country, Tromler led the embassy as Charge d’Affaires for 14 months. Then, his Minister of Foreign Affairs asked him: Why not stay as ambassador to Morocco?
“As a sportsman, this transition was quite easy,” he said. “And I was very happy to serve my country in this beautiful kingdom.”
Morocco becomes Hungary’s top African partner
The numbers tell a remarkable story, with last year marking Hungary and Morocco’s 65 year anniversary of diplomatic relations. Yet, the real transformation has come in the past decade. In 2023, Morocco became Hungary’s leading economic partner on the African continent — a milestone few would have predicted when Tromler first arrived.
Trade between the two countries has multiplied roughly tenfold over 15 years. Hungarian companies are now eyeing investments in Morocco, and Tromler hopes for reciprocal interest from Moroccan businesses looking toward Central Europe.
“Hungary is a small country, a small market of 10 million,” he acknowledged. “But with the seven surrounding countries and even the Balkan and Western Balkan region, it’s a huge opportunity — approximately 100 million market.”
High-level visits have accelerated in recent years, with King Mohammed VI’s private visit to Hungary in 2016 and last year’s first visit by Hungary’s Prime Minister to Morocco in 24 years. Hungary’s foreign minister now visits annually, and this year Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita traveled to Budapest.
“That creates a stable and very strong partnership,” Tromler said.
Opening doors for 5,700 applicants
Perhaps nothing demonstrates the growing connection better than Hungary’s scholarship program. Each year, the Hungarian government offers 165 fully-funded university scholarships to Moroccan students. The program covers everything — tuition, living expenses, the full package.
This year, 5,700 Moroccan students applied. That’s more than 30 candidates competing for each spot.
“Moroccan students are speaking among themselves,” Tromler explained. “They’re telling each other, this is very nice, this is very good, the education is very good. Budapest is a lovely capital.”
Every August, the embassy hosts a kick-off meeting for departing scholarship recipients. Staff members introduce Hungarian culture, language, weather — the practical details that matter when moving to a country many Moroccans struggle to locate on a map.
“Not every Moroccan thinks about, oh, what is Hungary, where is Hungary,” Tromler admitted. “So this is a really useful tool which gives us important power to build this partnership.”
The ambassador’s strategy has placed students in a position of being informal ambassadors themselves, sharing perspectives on Hungary that often differ from Western media portrayals. “Hungary is a stable country politically, economically, and security-wise,” Tromler said. “We are proud of that.”
In April, the embassy organized a study trip for five Moroccan university students to Hungary. The focus wasn’t classroom learning but cultural immersion — Hungarian music, food, architecture, and language. The students met with the vice-president of Hungary’s National Assembly and explored Budapest’s historic streets.
A reciprocal visit by Hungarian students to Morocco, originally scheduled for this year, has been postponed to March 2026 due to scheduling conflicts.
Morocco’s Qatar FIFA World Cup run changed perceptions
Tromler watched Morocco’s historic 2022 World Cup campaign with the eye of a former athlete. The Atlas Lions became the first African and Arab team to reach a World Cup semi-final, electrifying audiences worldwide.
“I think Morocco put the Arab world, the African world on a different level now in soccer (football),” Tromler said. “The world was amazed by this heartfelt competition. We’ve seen very strong teams, and we’ve seen in Morocco a very strong team playing with the heart and giving everything on the field.”
The tournament did more than feature Moroccan talent — it united communities. “All the countries here in Morocco, but even the Moroccan community around the world, and even the Arab world, they were supporting Morocco,” he said. “That’s the very important role of sport generally.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming African Cup of Nations, Tromler sees Morocco as a strong contender. “My expectation is that Morocco now has everything in their hands to win,” he noted, though he added a caveat with an athlete’s pragmatism: “it’s not easy to win an international cup.”
Remarkably, Tromler still plays water polo himself, even while actively in public service. Two years ago, he won the Moroccan national championship with Club de Cheminot de Rabat, a small community team near Agdal train station. He’s now a Moroccan champion — a title he wears with evident pride.
Advice for young diplomats
When young Moroccans visit the embassy asking about careers in diplomacy, Tromler draws on his unconventional path. Success, he tells them, comes in many forms — personal life, business, academics. The key is perseverance.
“Even when I was a professional water polo player, I was enrolled in different universities,” he said. “Try to travel as much as you can, because once you meet different cultures, people, then your mind and your way of thinking are shaped by that.”
His management style reflects his sports background. He treats local embassy staff as equals, not subordinates. “I consider them the same level as normal people, humanly,” Tromler said. “Of course, I have to lead them. Of course, I have to take decisions, sometimes strong and difficult decisions. But that’s the role of a manager, that’s the role of an ambassador, of a leader.”
The approach has worked. Staff members, he believes, appreciate being valued as people first. “I learned a lot from them,” he said. “The transition, for me, was not difficult.”
Building knowledge, one connection at a time
When Tromler first arrived in Morocco, Hungary and the North African country were distant partners connected mainly by historical ties. Today, Morocco stands as Hungary’s top African trade partner, with students, business leaders, and government officials traveling regularly between Rabat and Budapest.
The change didn’t happen through grand diplomatic gestures alone. It came through patient relationship-building within scholarship meetings, cultural exchanges, and even water polo games to create — the kind of teamwork Tromler learned in the pool decades ago.
“Hungarian-Moroccan relationship is longstanding,” Tromler said. “Last year, we celebrated the 65th anniversary. But I think the last 10 years, we built this relationship better than ever before.”
From a family’s skeptical questions in 2014 to championship victories and thriving partnerships in 2025, Tromler’s Morocco journey reflects an unlikely diplomatic success story.
Like any good athlete, he’s already looking toward the next goal — expanding investment, deepening cultural ties, and ensuring that more Hungarians discover what he learned 11 years ago: Morocco is worth the recognition.
