[G8 Diplomat]

Hungarian is said to be closest to Karelo-Finish.

I dunno how different Karelo-Finnish is from regular Finnish, but Hungarian has changed so much over the years that it hardly sounds like Finnish. It could sound like Karelo-Finnish though, but not like regular. Estonian is the closest language to Finnish.

[AlexW]

“Hungarian has changed so much over the years that it hardly sounds like Finnish.”

Well, one has to wonder what came first, the chicken or the egg.
Since this part of Europe was overrun by all sorts
of invaders...Romans, Turks, even the French, I can understand how pockets of ethnicity and language might have developed.
I should correct my statement about Karelo-Finish being closest to Hungarian.
I recall it being said that Hungarian was second only to Karelo-Finish in the difficulty of learning the language.