Hungary to expand economic development scheme to Szeklerland, says foreign minister in Transylvania

Hungary will expand its cross-border economic development scheme aimed at helping ethnic Hungarian communities beyond the border to Szeklerland, Romania, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with Hunor Kelemen, head of the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party, in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) on Friday.

In Romania, the programme so far had only been implemented in Mures (Maros) county targeting farmers and small companies, Szijjártó noted.

Last year, the Hungarian government disbursed 1.5 billion forints (EUR 4.7m) among the region’s farmers and entrepreneurs, he said, adding that the 800 grant applications that have been submitted this year were still being assessed.

Szijjártó also noted that next year’s budget earmarks 50 billion forints for economic development schemes, a significant chunk of which will be geared towards Transylvania and Szeklerland.

The minister lamented that the Romanian government had yet to approve the opening of a Hungarian cultural institute in Cluj-Napoca. In response to a question, he said the Hungarian government would gladly support the opening of a Romanian cultural institute in any Hungarian city.

“I would encourage the Romanians to open as many cultural institutes in Hungary as possible,” Szijjártó said. “Somehow this is not the exact attitude we see from our Romanian colleagues.”