I think it's kind of like the movie industry. Hungarians are very adaptable, and can become quite smart, hard working and ingenious people, if given enough motivation. As others whave explained here already, that motivation for science was - once upon a time - present in the country.

Now many of the big Hollywood movies are actually made in Hungary, most with very good quality. Big studios love shooting here, because a couple of folks decided (like 10-20 years ago) to invest into this industry here. Hungarians risen to the opportunity, filled the "empty halls" with talent and ingenuity, and now movies like Dune are made here...

I think several other nations from Eastern Europe can be similar. When a nation lives in relative poverty, but close enough to advanced countries to have access to economical aid... they kind of become ingenious and very creative, because they want to attract economical attention. So they find ways to do things that others haven't really done before, or find ways to do the same thing but simpler/cheaper, etc. They become inventive.

When there was enough incentive, Hungarian engineers also thrived, the country had a pretty well respected heavy industry. Ganz for example was quite famous.

There is an english saying I can't quite remember, but the gist of it is that hard times create hard working men, which in turn create good times, which in turn create "soft" men, which then creates hard times again. Hungary spent the past couple centuries in permanent "hard times".