Hungarian government spends a lot on Hungarians abroad

Annual government spending on support for Hungarian communities beyond the borders has grown over ten-fold since the time the Socialists were in power, the state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad said at the National Assembly of the Hungarians in Ópusztaszer, in the southeast of Hungary, on Saturday.

Árpád János Potápi said practically all settlements with Hungarian populations in the Carpathian Basin had benefited from government-supported programmes. Support has been granted to around 50,000 organisations and institutions, while over 100 programmes have been launched at the national level, he added. In the past 12-13 years, 309 billion forints (EUR 800m) has got toward 5,400 investments, including the construction of 155 kindergartens and the renovation of another 725, he said. The government aims to provide every child with a Hungarian parent or parents access to a Hungarian kindergarten, so they can then enroll in a Hungarian school, he added.

He noted that support available for families that send their children to Hungarian schools had been raised this year from HUF 22,400 (EUR 58.37) to HUF 100,000 (EUR 260.59). Experience shows that most children who don’t enroll in Hungarian language schools end up losing their Hungarian identity, he added.

Since 2018, Hungarians beyond the borders have been eligible to apply for maternity benefits and baby bonds, Potápi said. Around 60,000 companies in areas with Hungarian communities have been granted support to grow their businesses, he added. Potápi said the Hungarian government had funded nearly the entirety of the operation of Hungarian institutions in Transcarpathia, in the west of Ukraine, since 2015.