Support for national minorities in Hungary grew five-fold since 2010

Support for national minorities in Hungary has grown five-fold since 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said on Thursday.

Some 6.5 percent of Hungary’s population identify as a member of a national minority, he said during an annual hearing before parliament’s national minorities committee. In line with the constitution, Hungary’s national minorities are “state-forming elements”, he said.

They are considered integral and inseparable parts of the nation and they share a historic community with Hungarians, their cultures being part of Hungary’s rich national culture, he added.

Semjén noted the similarities between ethnic Hungarians living abroad and national minorities living in Hungary.

The latter, he added, were also “a bridge” between their mother country and Hungary.

Support for national minorities has increased five-fold since 2010, and they have been using the funding “sensibly and responsibly”, he said. He added that the decision to channel funding via the Bethlen Gábor Fund had been the right one.

The number of national minority educational institutions has increased from 12 to 91, and 15,000 students are studying in them in the 2019/2020 academic year, he said.

Hungary is open to transferring more educational institutions to the national minorities, he added.

Source: MTI