Permanent Hungarian Conference and Diaspora Council hold online plenary session

The Hungarian government’s programmes promoting the welfare of Hungarian communities beyond the borders have not been suspended because of the pandemic, but moved online and can be restarted immediately, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén told the Permanent Hungarian Conference (MÁÉRT) on Thursday. The current year and the coronavirus pandemic that has come with it have proven that “we, Hungarians indeed belong together”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video message

In the past decade, funding for those schemes has grown tenfold, Semjén said. Support now is provided for programmes supporting education, economic development and the support of Hungarian political parties beyond the borders, he said.

The government is “rightfully proud” of its policy towards Hungarians beyond the borders, Semjén said.

“Let 2021 be the year of national restart,” he added.

Orbán: Challenging year proves Hungarians ‘belong together’

Welcoming participants, Orbán noted that

2020 had been a year “when, interestingly, two seemingly unrelated matters, namely the centenary of the Trianon Treaty and the pandemic, coincide”.