Government programmes for Hungarian diaspora “successful”, says official

Budapest (MTI) – The government’s programmes to ensure the survival of Hungarian diaspora communities have been successful, and Hungary will continue to offer support to ethnic Hungarians living beyond the border, the state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad said on Sunday.

The Sandor Petofi scholarship aimed at strengthening the identity of ethnic kin in shrinking communities of the Hungarian diaspora was awarded to 50 recipients who got a chance to travel to diaspora communities to build social networks, Arpad Janos Potapi told a conference marking Hungarian Diaspora Day.

Under the programme known as “Without Borders”, Hungarian students beyond the border get to visit schools in Hungary and vice versa, while the Vocational Training programme allowed 128 students living in diaspora communities to complete month-long internships in Hungary, he said.

The state secretary also called it important that the government provide economic support for diaspora communities so that ethnic Hungarians can retain their identities.

Potapi noted that more than one million people, half of Hungarians living abroad, live in diaspora communities.

The conference was attended by representatives of diaspora communities in Transylvania, Slovenia, Croatia, Transcarpathia and Slovakia.

The forum representing lawmakers from the Carpathian Basin (KMKF) proposed last December that the Hungarian parliament declare November 15, the birthday of Gabor Bethlen, “the greatest prince of Transylvania during its golden age”, as the Hungarian Diaspora Day.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters