Hungarian state secretary calls for cooperation with Balkans nations

There is still a pressing need for the Balkans nations to join forces and for the European Union to handle these countries as full-fledged members, the state secretary in charge of churches, minorities and civil affairs said on Thursday at an event commemorating the anniversary of the 1444 battle of Varna.

Miklos Soltész said if nations in the Balkans are not treated as “allies and full-fledged partners” then “there will be trouble once again” in the region. Western Europe, however, has failed to recognise this threat, he said.

The government helps ethnic Bulgarians living in Hungary to preserve their mother tongue and supports the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Hungary because Bulgarian Christians deserve the same rights and opportunities as other long-standing churches in Hungary, Soltész told the press after a conference marking the 575th anniversary of the battle.

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Mariana Nikolova said the conference demonstrated that Bulgaria and Hungary “were making efforts to preserve their cultural identities and traditions”.

The Battle of Varna is a symbol of the centuries-old relations between Hungary and Bulgaria, she said. It was also symbolic that Hungarians, Bulgarians, Transylvanians, Bohemians, Wallachians, Bosnians and Poles joined forces to protect Christian values and their freedom, she added.

An international alliance was set up in 1444 to stop the Ottoman land gains in Europe, with the aim to liberate the Balkans. On November 10, the Ottoman army defeated the Christian army commanded by Wladyslaw III of Poland (also King of Hungary), who died in the battle.

Source: MTI