Carpathian Basin
MEP Morvai received letter on Transyvanian Hungarians from EC vice president Timmermans
Press release (Jobbik) – MEP Krisztina Morvai sent a letter to the European Commission on account of the regular atrocities, gross discrimination and violation of rights suffered by the indigenous Hungarian community of Transylvania.
The letter was answered by Vice President Frans Timmermans, Juncker’s first deputy, who expressed that the EU was aware of the terrible situation and informed the MEP that the Commission was conducting an ongoing dialogue with Romania about the issue and will continue to do so until it is resolved, Ms Morvai told us.
Krisztina Morvai asks all members of the Transylvanian Hungarian community to use this letter when dealing with public administration officials, present it to the leaders of the relevant authorities (with special regard to the fact that Romania makes considerable efforts to impress the EU and the international community) and keep Commissioner Timmermans informed of the atrocities experienced by the Transylvanian Hungarian community.
Among other things, Vice President Timmermans expressed in his letter to MEP Morvai that “(…) Romania, with which we have raised, among others, concerns over hate speech and bias-motivated incidents targeting the ethnic Hungarian community – an issue which the Commission is well aware of. (…) a dialogue with Romanian authorities is still ongoing due to the persistence of outstanding issues. We will continue to pursue our efforts to ensure that all our concerns are adequately addressed.”
Krisztina Morvai will soon send a letter to the Vice President concerning the situation of the Hungarian communities in Slovakia and Ukraine as well, while her legal aid and monitoring visit to the Vojvodina region is scheduled for this spring.
Weekly government press briefing about Putin’s visit, new wave of migration and other interesting topics
Budapest, January 19 (MTI) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit Budapest on Feb. 2, János Lázár, the government office chief, announced on Thursday. Preparations are needed to contain migration in the event Turkey fails to meet its related obligations, Lázár told a weekly press briefing. Lázár said that he will file a criminal complaint over the construction of Budapest’s fourth metro line, based on a recent report by the European Union’s anti-fraud office (OLAF).
Speaking at a weekly press briefing, Lázár said Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó would leave for Moscow next week to make preparations for the presidential visit.
Lázár said Putin’s visit was part of a fixture of annual meetings in which both leaders reviewed topical business and political issues. “This will be an important meeting but nothing out of the ordinary,” Lázár added.
On another diplomatic topic, Lázár said 2017 would be an important year for Hungarian diplomacy, not only because of the inauguration of a new American president and Brexit, but also because the government has decided to shift focus from pursuing multilateral ties to fostering bilateral relations.
Lázár said it was in Hungary’s interest to seek “fair and correct” agreements both with the United States and the United Kingdom. He added that Brexit should be completed on a basis of mutual benefits “so that it is good for both Europe and Britain”. On the same subject he added that the Hungarian government must protect the interests of Hungarians working in the UK.
Concerning migration, Lázár highlighted that the first contingent in a new border police unit, over 500 “border hunters”, had taken their oaths last week. He added that a second fence would be necessary to be built in parallel on the Hungarian side of the border with Serbia.
NGOs
Answering a question, Lázár said that the intelligence services have compiled a report about attempts by organisations, including those associated with American financier George Soros, to influence the politics of countries in central Europe, Lazar said, adding that the report was being considered by parliament’s national security committee. “Soros calls himself the opposition of [prime minister] Viktor Orbán and tells the US press that he is waging a campaign to change political conditions in Hungary. This is something the national security committee should evaluate,” he said.
USA
Asked about President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks concerning NATO and its “obsolescence”, as well as the possibility of a European defence system independent of the US, Lazar said Hungary’s standpoint is that Europe must have its own defence capabilities. The Hungarian government is ready to get behind a proposal for an independent defence capability, he said, adding however that “it is too soon to bury NATO”.
In connection with Hungary’s own defence capability “which has been described as currently central Europe’s-and perhaps Europe’s-weakest”, he said the government would discuss in February a development concept for Hungarian defence. This concept will outline how many soldiers and what kind of hardware developments are needed. Lazar added that the defence budget would be expanded. He also made clear that there were no plans to restore national service.
Hungary’s ambassador to Washington will represent the country at Trump’s inauguration, Lázár said.
Lázár warns of possible new wave of migration
János Lázár said the government is expecting the migration situation to deteriorate. Hungary must be prepared to protect its own and the EU’s borders independently of Turkey, he said.
Lázár noted that the interior ministry was working to re-introduce the detention of illegal entrants.
Lázár to file criminal complaint over metro 4 construction
Briefing the press, Lázár noted that OLAF had conducted an investigation into alleged criminal activities involved in the metro’s construction financed using EU funding.
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Lázár insisted that the project constituted a “crime by the international left” and that nearly all public procurement bids in the project had been conducted fraudulently.
Answering a question whether the government would publish the OLAF report, Lázár said he thought OLAF itself would do so. “The government was not the investor, the government did not conduct the investigation; the government was just informed,” he added.
In response to a question about why the criminal complaint does not name the main persons in charge of the investment project, Lazar said the OLAF report discusses contracts and in the majority of cases shows the initials of the people that signed contracts. In response to another question on where former Mayor Gábor Demszky and his “number one, two and three” deputies Csaba Horváth, János Atkari and Miklós Hagyó, stand in the line of responsibility, he said “they stand in first, second and third place”.
In connection with accountability, he said the OLAF report includes several company names, including “Siemens among those at the front”.
Metro line 3 upgrade
Commenting on a planned demonstration by the opposition Socialists in connection with the third metro line, he said the same people who had “left Budapest’s cupboards bare” are protesting for the revamp now.
“The Socialists are hungry, and they perhaps think there is an opportunity for theft in the capital just as with the fourth metro line…” Lázár said.
Concerning the revamp of the third metro line, he said the city council enjoyed the government’s support with 138 billion forints of EU funding available. He expressed agreement with Mayor István Tarlós that the revamp project could start in the summer.
Socialist prime ministerial candidate
Commenting on Szeged Mayor László Botka’s nomination as the Socialist party’s prime ministerial candidate, he said the “jostling” for power had started among members of the opposition but the government would maintain its distance. He confirmed that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will meet Botka in Szeged on Jan. 30 to discuss city development plans.
Hungarian state support granted to a soccer teams
In connection with 3 billion forints of Hungarian state support granted to a soccer team in Serbia, he said some 27 billion forints support had been granted to ethnic Hungarian organisations beyond the borders at the end of last year. Kindergartens in the Carpathian Basin received 9 billion forints and sports clubs in Osijek (Eszék) in Croatia, Dunajska Streda (Dunaszerdahely) in Slovakia, Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda) in Romania and Vojvodina in Serbia also received Hungarian government support.
Gas supplies
He said Hungary’s natural gas supplies were sufficient and rejected opposition criticism in connection with the reserves.
Budget 2018
The first round of consultations between ministries on the 2018 draft budget will be held in March and the government wants it to go before parliament earlier than last year, Lázár said.
Photo: MTI
What causes earthquakes in Hungary?
According to origo.hu, compared to other regions of the Earth, the Carpathian Basin counts as a relatively peaceful place from a seismic view. But the truth is that it is not peaceful at all. Due to the very deep plate tectonic processes, more than one million quakes bust the crust every year.
The majority of these quakes can only be detected by special instruments, the number of moderately strong (at least magnitude 6 on the Richer scale) earthquakes is only around 200, while there’s only 2-3 truly destructive (magnitude 8 or more) earthquake every year.
Hot upwelling from the depths of the Earth
Earthquakes are globally caused by the drift of substances – the thermal motion of the cape’s hot, melted detritus – in the core of our planet. The plates of the firm crust, the lithosphere, are “floating” on the viscose asthenosphere due to thermal motions that are coming from the deep. The lithospheric plates are in constant, slow movement.
The plate motions can happen affront each other, which signifies percussive or convergent plate borders, but the lithospheric plates can also move away from each other, which creates divergent plate borders. Also, the plates can slide by each other.
High energy tensions pile up in the crust in all three cases, and, when they bust, we can talk about seismic activity or earthquakes. 90% of the earthquakes can be detected at the plate borders.
Unpeaceful microplate at the depth of the Adriatic Sea
Hungarian earthquakes are caused by the collision of the African and Eurasian plate. This process has been going on for a very long time on a human scale. India joined Asia about 37-35 million years ago, at the end of the Eocene period. This, the coalescence of Africa and the Arabian plate, and then its collision with Eurasia triggered the Alpine orogenesis, and the upthrust of the Eurasian Mountain Range, including the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, the Dinarides and the Himalaya. The African-European plate border is still active.
The upthurst of the Eurasian Mountain Range
However, the plate border doesn’t fall in place with Africa’s geographic northern border, in other words, the southern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. It actually deeply streches under the Mediterranean basin instead. The microplate lying under the Adriatic Sea, called the Adriatic thorn, belongs to this plate border. The Adriatic microplate moves in a northern-north eastern direction, while turning counter clockwise. The complicated movement of the Adriatic thorn determines the tectonic and seismic conditions of the Apennines, the Alps, the Dinarides and the Carpathians.
Due to the rotating movement of the Adriatic microplate, significant tensile stress piles up in the crust, which’s burst causes the Italian earthquakes for instance.
The northern movement of the Adriatic thorn has a pressurizing effect on the Carpathian Basin, which is the cause of earthquakes in Hungary.
The biggest Hungarian earthquake
Origo.hu writes that there are approximately 100-120 earthquakes registered by experts every year in Hungary. The majority of them is less than the strength of 2.5, so most of them can’t even be sensed.
Strong, destructive earthquakes of 5.5-6 strength can only be expected in every 40-50 years. The most serious Hungarian earthquake happened on the 28th of July, 1763. The epicentre of the quake was in the vicinity of Komárom, and it had a strength of 6.3 according to the Richter scale.
The Zsámbék Premontre monastery church
The natural disaster took a toll on the nneighbourhood, causing many casualties: 63 deaths and more than 120 injuries. Seven churches – including the famous church of Zsámbék, the 13th century Prémontré abbey church – and 279 buildings were completely demolished, and 353 buildings suffered serious damages. The quake was accompanied by a strong sound effect.
The last big earthquake happened on the 12th of January, 1956, when the epicentre of the seismic occurrence was in Dunaharaszti. It was caused by the dislocation of a deep dolomite ball of earth. It caused two deaths, injured 38 people and damaged 3144 buildings (out of 3500).
Photo: www.eurekalert.com
Copy editor: bm
Hungary has duty to help advance lives of Hungarians abroad, says deputy PM
Budapest (MTI) – Hungary has a duty to help advance the lives of Hungarians living beyond the borders and to make sure that those who want to remain Hungarian in their homeland can do so, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén told public Kossuth Radio in an interview aired on Sunday.
Semjén said this is the first time since the signing of the WWI Trianon peace treaty — under which two-thirds of Hungary’s territory was ceded to neighbouring countries — that any ethnic Hungarian living beyond the borders who wants to be a full-fledged Hungarian can become a Hungarian citizen and thereby an EU one.
He vowed that there would be one million new Hungarian citizens by the end of the current government term. Ninety percent of the new citizens will be granted Hungarian citizenship through the fast-tracked naturalisation process, he said.
The Hungarian government has never spent as much money on helping Hungarians abroad preserve their cultural and linguistic identity as it does now, Semjén said.
Semjén said 50 billion forints (EUR 161.1m) had been ploughed into support for Hungarian communities in Vojvodina alone. Communities in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region, Slovenia and Croatia have also received such support in the form of non-refundable grants and preferential credit, he added.
Asked about an education bill in Ukraine which Hungarian organisations based in Transcarpathia say violates ethnic Hungarians’ fundamental right to be taught in their native language, Semjén said Ukraine was “doing atrocious things” in several areas, including education. He said Hungary would take the necessary “precautionary measures” in response to those steps. Semjén said a portion of Transcarpathia’s welfare system is now being financed by the Hungarian government, noting that Transcarpathian doctors who speak to their clients in Hungarian or teachers who teach in Hungarian get additional funding.
As regards the state of the Hungarian community in Slovakia, the deputy prime minister said Slovak Hungarians were divided, adding that the best the Hungarian government could do there was support the local Party of the Hungarian Community (MKP) and ensure that local Hungarians also get the support needed to preserve their identity, regardless of political affiliation. Semjen added that political and economic ties between Hungary and Slovakia as part of the Visegrad Four alliance were “soaring”.
Concerning Transylvania, he said it was Hungary’s national interest that the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ was represented in the Romanian parliament. He described the party’s performance in Romania’s recent parliamentary election in which together with the ethnic Hungarian MPP it garnered over 6 percent of the votes as “very strong”.
Semjén stressed that he considers the fight against corruption important, adding, however, that it was “absurd” that ethnic Hungarian leaders were being accused of corruption “on an obviously contrived basis”. He said the Hungarian government would take firm action against attacks on local Hungarian leaders and church-run schools designed to “intimidate” them.
On the subject of Hungarian diaspora communities, Semjén said Hungarians living in the west were highly successful, which he said gave them opportunities to play important roles in advancing ties between Hungary and the country they live in.
Photo: MTI
The Chinese find Hungary to be an ideal investment destination
According to globoport.hu, the Chinese could process technological garbage with a Hungarian technique – this was one of the topics discussed in the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Sunday. The high-status Chinese delegation said that they very much appreciate Hungarian expertise.
This wasn’t the first time that Chinese investors and Hungarian ideas found each other with the help of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Far-Eastern delegation came from Yangchuen, Sens province, to get to know the newest Hungarian developments, and to bring these back home to China.
According to Dr Zoltán Kiss, the president of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the delegation came with a great investment background and serious aims.
“I think that the delegation left with several thoughts. First of all, the exploration of Hungarian investment opportunities and the establishment of Hungarian investment companies. Secondly, the purchasing of technologies and tools that could be built in China based on Hungarian ideas, concepts.”
Hungarian developers presented their ideas on Sunday. According to the president of the Chamber’s Middle Eastern Department, Sándor Balogh, this is a unique opportunity for both sides.
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“There were very interesting ideas from linguistics and learning languages to biomass power plants. There were quite a few companies presenting their knowledge of prognosticatory technologies. We hope that these ideas will be turned into businesses” said Sándor Balogh.
One presentation was already followed by a signing and a handshake. The two sides managed to agree on establishing an electronic garbage-processing-plant, where domestic and informatic devices will be recycled.
China is in a great need of environmentalist technologies. “We learned about several interesting novelties in Budapest, but garbage processing particularly attracted our attention” said one of the investors.
It also turned out at the meeting that Chinese companies want to invest more and more in Hungary, because they can easily reach European and North African markets from the Carpathian Basin.
Photos: www.globoport.hu
Copy editor: bm
Hungary allocates development funding for Transylvanian kindergartens
Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s government has allocated almost 1.5 billion forints (EUR 4.8m) for developments at kindergartens in Transylvania (Erdély) in 2017 and 2018, state secretary for nation policy Árpád Potápi said in Sfantu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy) on Saturday.
Some 900 million forints of the funding will go toward playgrounds, 300 million forints will be used for equipment and 227 million for developing teaching methods, Potápi said at an event to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Romanian Hungarian Teachers Association (RMPSZ).
Romanian education ministry state secretary András Király noted that there is Hungarian-language instruction in 1,400 educational institutions in Romania at present, in large part thanks to the work of RMPSZ. More than 10,000 Hungarian teachers work in these schools, he added.
Plenary session of the Hungarian Permanent Conference
Budapest, December 1 (MTI) – Hungary used to be a stigmatised, marginalised country but has now become “part of a victorious team”, and its policy has become “the policy of winners”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Thursday.
Addressing a plenary session of the Hungarian Permanent Conference in Budapest, Orbán said that “it has become easier to take sides with Hungary throughout the world.”
Orbán expressed thanks to ethnic Hungarian leaders from neighbouring countries that “despite head wind” they had taken “a courageous and whole-hearted stand” for the policy of Hungary’s government.
The prime minister said the greatest achievement of his government in the past six years has been “unifying the nation”, completed in cooperation with ethnic Hungarian communities. “One hundred years after the Trianon dictate components of the Hungarian nation have found each other and cooperation has become a daily routine”. He noted that so far 810,000 ethnic Hungarians have taken the oath of Hungarian citizenship under the mother country’s dual citizenship law.
Orbán regretted that other countries in the region may not have met expectations of promoting ethnic minority rights following their European Union accession. Referring to Romania, he mentioned that country’s restricting the use of ethnic Hungarian symbols and a “campaign” against ethnic leaders “under the pretext of fighting corruption”. He said the upcoming Romanian elections will be of crucial importance, and urged ethnic Hungarians to participate and ensure a strong representation for their minority in the Bucharest parliament.
Concerning immigration to the EU, Orbán said that “some European forces” seek to “replace the soil” of European politics, and support migration “from inside to ensure a massive influx”.
On another subject, Orbán said that the western world was in an “intellectual chaos” and called it “absurd” that Cuba’s recently deceased Fidel Castro is “being excused”. The “Left-Liberal elite still does not see the reality behind socialism or communism”, and maintains its “dreamworld” associated with those systems, Orbán said. That is why, he argued, that “many in Brussels” still not see the reasons behind Brexit or Donald Trump’s victory at the US presidential elections.
“It is not too difficult to see similarities between those developments and Hungary’s changes in 2010,” Orbán added. It is obvious, that the Left has lost ground, but the traditional Right must also change or else it will similarly lose supporters, he said.
The prime minister also commented on Wednesday’s court ruling concerning migrant riots at Hungary’s southern border in 2015, and said that “the government had warned (migrants) in advance” that “if one comes here, they must obey the rules; if they fail to do so, there will be legal consequences”.
Touching upon the government’s recent agreement with trade unions and employers, Orbán said that the accord could contribute to keeping the Hungarian economy on a path of steady growth in the next 5-10 years.
Photo: MTI
Christian Democrats voice concern over shrinking Hungarian communities
Budapest, November 29 (MTI) – Péter Harrach, group leader of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, has expressed concern over the declining number of ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of upcoming meetings of the Hungarian Diaspora Council and the Hungarian Standing Conference (Máért), Harrach said that over the past 20 years the Hungarian community in Transylvania had shrunk by 380,000 people. In the same period, the number of ethnic kin decreased by 108,000 in southern Slovakia, by 88,000 in Serbia’s Vojvodina province, and by 22,000 in western Ukraine. Harrach added that some communities of the diaspora were even more severely reduced, noting counties in Romania where the Hungarian community has halved.
Among the causes, Harrach mentioned assimilation and emigration, as well as legal violations and harassment of ethnic Hungarians.
Harrach praised the Hungarian government’s measures aimed at reinforcing the national identity of ethnic Hungarians and helping them stay and prosper in their homelands. Hungary seeks to promote businesses in those communities and provides aid to help finance Hungarian education and civil organisations, he noted.
Concerning the upcoming sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, Harrach said they could be “another step” in the process of “re-unifying the nation”.
Photo: MTI
Hungary’s First Lady hands over food donation to charity in Transylvania
Szalonta (Salonta), Romania (MTI) – A Hungarian delegation headed by First Lady Anita Herczegh handed over a donation of 20 tonnes of bread and pasta to the St Franciscus Foundation in Romania.
The donated flour was collected in the Bread of the Hungarians programme earlier this year.
László Korinek, the proponent of the scheme, said that this year over 510 tonnes of grain had been collected by 3,000 Hungarian farmers, and a further 100 tonnes had come from ethnic Hungarian communities to produce 350 tonnes of flour.
The donation will be followed by further contingents in the coming weeks.
Photo: MTI
Foreign minister hails good relations with neighbours
Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s relations with neighbouring countries have “never been this balanced”, Péter Szijjártó told parliament’s national cohesion committee on Tuesday.
Speaking at his annual hearing with the committee, Szijjártó added, however, that some ties were not as good as before.
Concerning Hungary’s national cohesion policy, the minister said the strategy was aimed at promoting ethnic Hungarian communities in their homelands. He said it required both economic and political measures, as well as promoting links between ethnic kin and Hungary proper.
As for physical links, Szijjártó said that Hungary had opened 20 new border crossing facilities in the past six years and is planning to open another 27 by 2020.
Referring to Romania, the minister called it unacceptable that Romanian authorities were “systematically harassing” ethnic Hungarian officials under the pretext of fighting corruption. He said that open issues should be “kept on the agenda” but added that he did not expect any progress in resolving those issues in light of Romania’s upcoming election.
Political cooperation with Slovakia has been the “best of all times”, which serves as a good basis to settle unresolved issues, Szijjártó said. He referred to recent amendments of the Slovak education law, and said that the new stipulations removed an “immediate danger” for small Hungarian-language schools to be closed down.
Szijjártó voiced a similarly high opinion about Hungary’s ties to Serbia, and said it was important to support that country’s European integration.
Hungary urges that Ukraine establishes electoral and educational districts in Transcarpathia with an ethnic Hungarian majority, the minister said, adding that the subject will be on the agenda of a meeting of the Ukrainian president in Budapest late in November.
Concerning Croatia, Szijjártó said the fact that Croatia’s new foreign minister would pay his first official trip abroad to Budapest augured that bilateral cooperation could improve.
The natural wonders of the Carpathian Basin
Many think that the 300 thousand m2 big Carpathian Basin is an unmatched geographical region. According to nlcafe.hu, the Equator and the North Pole are almost the same distance afar from here. It starts with the Danube breaking through the Carpathians at the Dévény pass and ends with its exit at the Alduna pass. The Carpathian Basin is rich in natural wonders and even some records can be connected to the following places.
The world’s biggest helio-thermal lake: Bear Lake, Sovata
The lake found in the Transylvanian Maros County was formed by the obstruction of a swallet in 1875 after an abundant downpour. It got its name after its shape (it looks like a spread out bear skin). Due to the salt forming a deposit millions of years ago, the bottom water-bearing is salty, while the upper one is fresh. So the bottom layer of bigger density is able to keep the warmth from the sunrays. This is why the temperature of the 10 metre deep lake’s water can reach 35° Celsius on the surface (even 80 degrees has been measured once!).
An absolute curiosity in the world: the boxthorn tree in Debrecen
Anyone who’s been to the “Calvinist Rome” has probably visited the curiosity on the side of the church which could hardly be called a tree or a bush. According to tradition, the representatives of the old and new beliefs argued which one would finally triumph in the “city of endurance”. The Catholic priest broke down a branch angrily and stuck it into the ground saying that Calvinism would only find its home in Debrecen when the branch grew into a tree. Since then, the unique plant didn’t only root in the city, but also has been flourishing ever since.
The unrivalled Cave Bath of Miskolctapolca
The lake cave turned into a cave bath is a true curiosity in the Carpathian Basin. The water graved its way through the limestone rocks in thousand years, and they are now filled with pleasant thermal water and curing cave air. You can stay in the 30° Celsius water for as long as you desire as its salinity is lower than medical water’s, but you can also try the outdoors pools, sauna park or the floating cabin. Europe’s only beach built according to Green City principles can also be found in Miskolctapolca.
The mysterious hive rocks in Bükkalja
The volcano tufa formations of the Bükk Mountains were formed by the joined work of wind and water. Out of these, the cone-shaped ones are the most interesting because someone carved small chambers into them sometime. Certain scientists believe that these 60 cm tall, 30 cm wide and 25-30 cm deep chambers once guarded the urines of the deceased, while other think that the chambers were used for beekeeping around the time of the Settlement of the Magyars in Hungary.
Europe’s biggest coherent grassy plain: the Hortobágy
Why is this seemingly monotonously plain Hortobágy so special on our continent? Its secret is that it wasn’t formed after a deforestation as it is a cultural landscape cultivated by herdsmen’s communities, which was able to keep its biological diversity. The N°1 Hungarian national park is now more than 82 thousand hectares big. Its must-see sights include draw wells, taverns, sepulchral mounds and the famous Nine-holed Bridge.
The continent’s biggest curing hot-watered lake: the Thermal Lake of Hévíz
The 4,5 hectare turf bedded spring lake is surrounded by a 50 hectare shelter-wood. The surface of the water is covered by a layer of steam, the lake is framed by swamp cypresses. The Indian nymphaea was naturalised more than a hundred years ago, so visitors can admire its beautiful white species from May till November. The thermal water of Lake Hévíz is perfect for curing rheumatic and muscoskeletal diseases.
Europe’s biggest alluvial fan: Szigetköz and Csallóköz
Nlcafe.hu writes that the whole area of the Little Hungarian Plain is 9000 km2, which is shared by Slovakia, Austria and Hungary. In ancient times it was covered by the Pannon Sea and was later filled with the alluvial of the Danube and its tributaries. This is how the continent’s biggest alluvial fan was formed.
The Torda Cleft and its unique natural reservation
The Transylvanian limestone cleft is rich in steep cliffs and dangerous caves, suspension bridges that are hard to approach. It’s a beloved hiking spot which evolved from a yielded cave system. Legend has it that King Saint László prayed to God for help here, so the mountain sprang and the cleft blocked the cavalier king from his Cumanian persecutors. The print of his horse’s shoe can be seen on the Hoof Rock, while his well can also be found in the form of a crystal clear water spring, which he burst with his bard from a rock to appease the thirst of his warriors. However, what makes the cleft so special are not the legends nor the beautiful natural environment, but the fact that it is populated by such a rare flora and fauna that can hardly be found anywhere else in Europe.
The biggest dripstone formation of the temperate climatic zone
The world’s biggest calc-tuff column can be found in the Krasznahorka Cave in Slovakia. The diameter of the 34 m tall stalagmite’s base is 12 metres and it was part of the Guinness Record Book as the world’s biggest dripstone for a very long time.
Europe’s biggest saltwater lake: Lake Fertő
The flora and fauna of the 20 thousand-year-old steppe lake is absolutely unique on our planet (some species solely occur in this region). 300 bird species nest there and more than 30 different fish species live in the lake. The 36 kilometre long, 7-15 kilometre wide Lake Fertő’s salinity is 33 times as much as Lake Balaton’s. Another curiosity is that its water level is bevelled in times of stormy wind.
Photos: www.facebook.com/Medve-tó,Szováta, BükkiNemzetiParkIgazgatóság, Kilenclyukú-híd-Hortobágy, Szigetköz, Fertőtó, Hévíz, www.debrecen.varosom.hu, www.barlang.hu, www.barlangfurdo.hu
Copy editor: bm
Hungary ally rather than enemy to Romania, says Hungarian house speaker
Bucharest (MTI) – Romania may in the future realise that ethnic Hungarians are an asset rather than a hazard, while Hungary is an ally sharing values and interests rather than an enemy to Romania, House Speaker László Kövér said in Marosvásárhely (in Romanian: Targu Mures) on Wednesday.
“That realisation has happened in Serbia, and the same realisation is ripening in Slovakia; we trust that it will happen in Romania, too, sooner or later,” Kövér said in his opening address to a Hungarian cultural festival.
In his address, Kövér noted that Romania’s ethnic Hungarian community was shrinking, and blamed both the “anti-Hungarian” attitude of that country’s political elite and the “poor performance of Hungary’s policy for Hungarians abroad or rather the lack of such policies”. He added that the situation of ethnic Hungarians could improve should Romania realise that “preserving the homeland in the Carpathian Basin and eastern Europe is a shared challenge for peoples of the region”.
On another subject, Kövér encouraged ethnic Hungarians to participate in Romania’s parliamentary elections in December and support the Hungarian parties. “In the Bucharest parliament no one else but the Hungarians will represent Hungarian interests, while an effective Hungarian presence in Romanian politics could also contribute to an improvement in relations between Hungary and Romania,” Kövér said.
Kövér also encouraged voters of dual Romanian and Hungarian citizenship to cast their ballot in Hungary’s upcoming quota referendum and “vote against the forced settlement (of migrants) as planned by the European Union”.
Fidesz: Hungarians support Europe, reject ‘forced settlement’
Baile Tusnad, July 22 (MTI) – Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin support the European Union but reject plans for the “forced settlement” of migrants in their countries, Zsolt Németh said on Friday.
Speaking at the Bálványos Summer University in Baile Tusnad (Tusnádfürdő), in central Romania, the head of ruling Fidesz’s foreign affairs cabinet welcomed a statement adopted by leaders of ethnic Hungarian parties, denouncing Europe’s “ill-advised” migration policy and plans to distribute migrants.
Németh urged ethnic Hungarians to participate in the Hungarian government’s upcoming anti-quota referendum “so that Brussels hears the voice of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin”.
Photo: MTI
Hungary is supporting the survival of Hungarians in Transcarpathia via economic means
“Of the cross-border Hungarian communities, the Hungarians of Transcarpathia are struggling the most tenaciously for survival and the Hungarian Government is supporting this struggle via economic means”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy Levente Magyar declared on Saturday in Tiszapéterfalva during his opening speech at the 3rd Turul Expo.
In his speech, Mr. Magyar stressed: “Over the next few years we will be ‘pumping’ somewhere in the magnitude of ten billion forints into the economy of Transcarpathia in such a way that every single Forint or Hryvnia will be utilised in the most efficient way possible to best serve the creation of jobs and livelihoods”.
The Minister of State announced that the first round of tenders within the framework of the economic support programme for Transcarpathia would be launched within the next few days, which will be providing significant funding, two billion forints (EUR 6.3M) this year, to Hungarian companies and entrepreneurs in Transcarpathia.
“Although the question of how it would be possible to help the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia arose many times during the past decades, this is the largest practical support provided to the region since the ‘Highlands Drive’ named after (Hungarian agriculture expert) Ede Egán over a hundred years ago. It is as a revival and continuation of this programme that the Hungarian Government decided to launch the Economic Development Programme in Transcarpathia”, he pointed out.
“We would like to base the future of Transcarpathian Hungarians on Hungarian entrepreneurs in Transcarpathia who operate within the fields of agriculture, industry and tourism, because it is they who create jobs and added value and it is they who are capable of integrating Transcarpathian Hungarians into their production structures in greater numbers”, Mr. Magyar highlighted.
In his speech, President of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ) and Member of Ukrainian Parliament László Brenzovics said events that “capture the imagination of the masses” are the right reaction to the challenges it faces on the part of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia. “Its significance can only really be understood if we take into account the situation in Ukraine, the war, the economic crisis and the political chaos, with relation to which we would expect the Hungarian minority to remain in the shadows and not express its will. In contrast, as also indicated by the expo and trade fair here in Tiszapéterfalva, the Hungarians of Transcarpathia have set themselves a major goal; to remain and achieve progress in the land of their birth”, the politician stressed.
Mr. Brenzovics indicated that entrepreneurs would be informed about the economic development funding and the conditions of the loan tender during the coming weeks within the framework of an awareness-raising tour of the region.
In reply to a question from Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Magyar said that the realisation of the model project within the framework of which a fruit and vegetable processing plant is being established in Huszt, near Visk, with an investment of 1.5 billion forints (EUR 4.75M), was in an advanced state. “The project has a dual goal; firstly to provide jobs for several thousand Transcarpathian families who are involved in cultivating fruits and vegetables, and secondly to contribute to the region’s once highly-developed tradition of apple production”, he explained.
82 exhibitors from 5 countries are taking part in the two-day Turul Expo, within the framework of which several business forums and lectures are also taking place.
Over 850,000 people granted Hungarian citizenship since 2010
Budapest, July 8 (MTI) – More than 850,000 people have been granted Hungarian citizenship since the introduction of a fast-track procedure six years ago, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said in a summer camp on Friday.
A total of 780,000 people will have their oaths of citizenship taken by the next week, Semjén said in the camp organised by the Christian Democratic Youth Federation in Kisvárda, in northeastern Hungary.
He said that by the end of the current government term in 2018 there will be one million new Hungarian citizens which was a goal set by the government when introducing the scheme.
Is the Hungarian language going to disappear completely?
Within the next few decades the Hungarian language will become much less present in the Carpathian Basin and most of the trans-border Hungarian communities will disappear, unless the language consciously gets developed, reports magyaridok.hu. The adaption of an effective language strategy could be beneficial for the regional status of the Hungarian language, which would mean further advantages, both on an economic and international scale.
Hungary had been affected by the idea of “a nation is living in its language” since the 16th century grammars and translations of the Bible. The neoliberal dogma saying that “no forms of intervention should be carried out regarding the life of a language” had also been supported by a linguistic industry. The “poisoned words” of those supporters further wrong the already – since Trianon – wounded community awareness, for aside the geographical losses, a “spiritual” loss did hurt the feelings. The disappearance of the Hungarian language community awareness is a huge issue, as without positive individual and parental decisions no positive language community can exist.
If those were present, the deterioration and exchange of languages would be less a threat, which also shows how important positive language decisions are. Especially in our day and age where, after being born, the children get into the world of telecommunication devices which play a significant role in their lives and are highly present while growing up. Thus, children become familiar with the rather terrible language used through digital applications. Instead of listening to a bedtime story or sing a song with their parents their entertainment comes from TV cartoons and animations full of aggressive language items, which cannot be balanced by the kindergarten teachers. Or, at school, they eventually get bored by the formal analyses of grammar classes.
Then, after finishing secondary, people usually go to university and finish a course probably – partly – in English because of the lack of terminology. After that chances are high that they go abroad and there comes the question whether they would care about preserving and passing on their mother tongue to their children if they lived far from their home country.
For minority Hungarians this problem is significant, as the successor states’ language policies are on the verge of making their states’ languages completely “Hungarianless”. For example, based on the last 20 years’ population movements there will be zero Hungarian-speaking people by 2056 in Upper Hungary (Felvidék), by 2057 in Transylvania (Erdély) and by 2062 in Vojvodina (Vajdaság). Therefore, Magyar idők writes that except for Szekler Land (Székelyföld) and the Great Rye Island (Csallóköz), the minorities will stop speaking Hungarian within 50 years. Though, it can happen more quickly, as after reaching the stagnation point the process of language losing will speed up. Such points may be the shutting down of a village school or similar happenings, which boost the process.
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However, there would be a way to prevent the losing of the Hungarian language, which seems to be working in the cases of other European language strategy models. These models are usually built up of a basic legal background, a smart, definite and feasible language law and a language strategy which can be fulfilled in practice. This trinity is present in Finland and Estonia, for instance, among the governmental and the professional bodies’ cooperation. A good language strategy presupposes the professional language planning affecting the whole of the community and the coordination of its legal language policy practice. Narrowed down, the strategy means a country’s language-linguistic-legal action plan and its policies. Such plan exists in Finland. Ideally, just like in Estonia, these plans divide the goals and tasks into cycles with the financial assets. The success of the Estonians can give hope: there is a way out from the toughest situations, too.
A successful dissimilation language strategy can slow down, or even prevent the assimilation of the trans-border Hungarians. In case of assimilation, giving up the Hungarian language means that there will be more non-Hungarians in number without any new born. Thus, assimilation is the cultural loss of a certain region, where instead of two or more languages only one becomes spoken. Importantly though, the dissimilation strategy does not go against anyone, is not discriminatory, for dissimilation is a cultural gain: the minority languages are present while the number of the people speaking the major language will not decrease either. The trans-border Hungarians are mainly multilingual, therefore, this strategy could help the areas in question.
Moreover, it is a major task to understand that in our region multilingualism is a more natural state than monolingualism. The success of the dissimilation strategy also includes “Hungarian-Hungarian economic synergies”, therefore, it is a great economic potential of the Carpathian Basin. These elements are highlighted, complex elements divisible to cycles. But bear in mind that the info technological, terminological, preserving and the diversification-protecting areas are also inevitably necessary. Hence, the writer of the article, alongside Géza Balázs and János Pusztay have made a programme which was accepted by the government 2 years ago. However, the Hungarian Language Strategy Institute which was established based on the government regulation could not succeed in carrying out the goals.
Therefore, as the article reports, people should realize that Hungary is losing the language war of the Carpathian Basin: in 10 or 50 years the number of Hungarians will depend on those who find it important to preserve and pass it on to their descendants. Much depends on the existence or lack, the fulfillment or fail of a successful national language strategy. The question is whether 8 or 12 million Hungarians will live in the complete area of the Carpathian Basin by 2060.
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The forum representing lawmakers from the Carpathian Basin hold in Budapest
Budapest, April 1 (MTI) – Keeping Hungarian workers in the Carpathian Basin is crucial for the region in the long run, House Speaker László Kövér said at Friday’s plenary session of the forum representing lawmakers from the Carpathian Basin (KMKF) in Budapest.
Kövér told the forum that labour migration was not a uniquely Hungarian problem, pointing out that neighbouring countries deal with greater labour shortages than Hungary or Hungarian diaspora communities.
Over the coming years, Hungary will have to focus its efforts on managing the labour market in a way that creates stable work environments for all Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin, he said. This strategy will ensure that Hungarians will have not just an emotional but also an economic interest in staying in their homeland. The KMKF will have an important role in putting together this strategy, Kövér added.
The house speaker said Hungary’s ability to implement the interests of its policy for Hungarian communities abroad would depend on whether the country can protect that policy from “political opponents” who aim to convince the international community that Hungary’s diaspora policy is a risk to the stability of the Carpathian Basin. Right now it appears that the political opponents are winning, he said.
He said the success of the diaspora policy will also depend on how much of a battlefield the Carpathian Basin will become between the interests of the United States and Russia. The region will remain a battlefield until the European Union decides that it wants to be a bridge between the Euro-Atlantic alliance and the Eurasian political pole as opposed to a barrier, he said.
Photo: MTI
The “2016 – the year of young Hungarian entrepreneurs abroad” program is received with great interest in Transylvania
Press release – According to a statement by the State Secretariat for Hungarian Communities Abroad sent to the Hungarian news agency MTI, the “2016 – the year of young Hungarian entrepreneurs abroad” program was received in Transylvania with greater interest than expected.
Under the program, in cooperation with Design Terminal, the State Secretariat for Hungarian Communities Abroad organized a tour with four stops in Transylvania. The tour included professional presentations and consultations between 21 and 24 March.
At the events, which targeted young Hungarian entrepreneurs and young people who would like to become entrepreneurs, experienced mentors gave presentations on methods for developing entrepreneurial skills, communication and marketing strategies and various forms of financial and sales planning.
The first stop on the tour was the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș, the second and third were at the extramural departments of the Sapientia in Székelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc and Sepsiszentgyörgy/Sfântu Gheorghe, while the last was in Csíkszereda/Miercurea Ciuc. The events were attended by almost 400 young people, and each of them was a full house.
The Carpathian Basin tour of the program will continue on 30 March in Slovakia’s Rimaszombat/Rimavská Sobota, then it will go to Vojvodina, Transcarpathia, Slovenia and will finish in Transylvania’s Szatmárnémeti/Satu Mare and Kolozsvár/Cluj Napoca.
Photo: vallalkozokeve.hu