Hungarian deputy PM: ‘Hungary became a world nation’

The Hungarian nation “has become a world nation”, and the Hungarian government sees that as an opportunity, Zsolt Semjén, the deputy prime minister, told the 13th session of the Hungarian Diaspora Council in Budapest on Wednesday.

Semjén: Hungary a world nation

Semjén said Hungarians were present all over the world. “Our task is to turn challenges into opportunities, therefore we consider it a kind of opportunity that Hungarians have become a world nation.” He said the Hungarian diaspora was a “bridgehead” for Hungary in terms of culture, the economy, and “in all other areas of life.”

Funding earmarked for policies for Hungarians across the borders has grown more than tenfold since 2010, Semjén said.

The Hungarian government is supporting 5,500 ethnic Hungarian organisations, while a total of 9,300 projects involving ethnic Hungarian communities have been completed, Semjén said. Hungary has assisted in the reconstruction or rebuilding of 3,700 churches as well as 1,000 kindergartens and creches outside the country, he said. Some 230,000 children enrolled in Hungarian schools across the borders receive a 100,000 forint (EUR 245) grant every year from Hungary’s government, he said.

Within the government’s “Beyond the Borders” programme, some 530,000 children have travelled abroad to areas with large Hungarian communities. This year, 52,000 students will receive the same support, he added. Hungarian students across the borders will also receive assistance in visiting Hungary or other countries with ethnic Hungarians, he said.

Semjén said he saw Israel’s policy regarding diasporas as an example. “Wherever a Jewish person may live in the world, they can always go home to Israel if they feel they are in danger. Hungary is a country where all Hungarians, no matter where they live in the world, can return to if they feel they are in trouble or their lives are threatened,” he said.