State secretary Potápi: Hungarians in Croatia inalienable part of Hungarian nation

Marking the 176th anniversary of Hungary’s 1848-49 revolution and war of independence on Friday, Árpád János Potápi, the state secretary in charge of policies for Hungarian communities abroad, said in Croatia’s Suza (Csuza) that ethnic Hungarians in Croatia form an “inalienable part” of the Hungarian nation, as in 1848.

Hungarians in Croatia

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“This was the case in 1848, too, when many from Baranja (Drávaszög), then Baranja County, went to join the Hungarian revolution and freedom fight,” Potápi told public media after the central commemoration held by the Democratic Union of Hungarians of Croatia (HMDK).

He laid a wreath at the tomb of Gedeon Ács, the camp chaplain of revolutionary leader Lajos Kossuth, in the local cemetery, saying that “the chaplain was the revolutionary who accompanied Kossuth into exile and, after returning to Suza, he worked to strengthen his community as a pastor and teacher”. “We have always needed such people, like in 1848, after 1867 and now.”

In connection with Croatia’s parliamentary elections next month, Potápi expressed hope for local Hungarians to join forces in order to have representation in the country’s next parliament.

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