Government official: People challenge idea of Hungarian identity nowadays

Many are challenging the idea of national identity nowadays, Bence Rétvári, a state secretary at the interior ministry, said at the third All-Hungarian Mother Tongue Camp in Sátoraljaújhely, in north-eastern Hungary, on Tuesday.

“Some say material possessions are more important than Hungarian identity and the characteristics we are born with,” Rétvári said.

“Our innate qualities aren’t something we should leave behind, since it is what binds Hungarians and Christians together,” the state secretary said.

A camp organised by the Rákóczi Association can help its participants “get more out of themselves and overcome themselves”, Rétvári said, expressing hope that the students would return to the Sátoraljaújhely camp. Those attending the camp can learn more about Hungarian history, culture and language, he said.

Some 10,000 young Hungarians from beyond the border have attended the Rákóczi Association’s camps, Rétvári said, adding that some 1,000 Hungarians have taken part in the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor and Petőfi programme for Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin and in the diaspora.

Csongor Csáky, the Rákóczi Association’s president, told public media that this year’s camp is attended by students from the Carpathian Basin, Southern Transylvania and Transcarpathia, as well as from Canada, Spain and Australia.