Government supports preserving identity of diaspora Hungarians

The Hungarian government supports diaspora Hungarians through scholarships, grants and summer camps, a government official told the conference of Hungarian weekend schools in Budapest on Friday.

The government is working with 250 institutions worldwide to help some 2.5 million Hungarians preserve their identity far from the homeland, Péter Szilágyi said.

One pillar of the scheme is the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor programme, which has sent 661 grant recipients to weekend schools and church institutions worldwide since 2013, he said.

Széchenyi István University provides training for weekend school teachers, and 30 students completed the course in 2021, Szilágyi added.

Weekend schools worldwide also received 500 million forints (EUR 1.2m) in government grants, he noted. This year government-funded summer camps for diaspora children received 443 children in New Zealand, Brazil, Texas and Vancouver, he said.

Meanwhile, the Bridge for Transcarpathia aid programme has collected donations worth 1 billion forints (EUR 2.5m) for Hungarians living in war-torn Ukraine, he added.