Three Hungarian municipalities in running for Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture title

Budapest (MTI) – Three Hungarian municipalities, namely Veszprem, Iszkaszentgyorgy (central Hungary) and Nagykallo (eastern Hungary), have submitted bids for the title of Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture in 2016, a representative of the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture office told MTI on Monday.

The initiative of the Youth Association of Finno-Ugric Peoples (MAFUN) is aimed at strengthening the national identity of Finno-Ugric nations – Estonia, Finland and Hungary – and ethnic Finno-Ugric communities living in Russia.

Peter Aranyi said it was the second time Veszprem has submitted its application, while the town of Nagykallo (on the picture) and the village of Iszkaszentgyorgy are newcomers. Aranyi said all three applications meet the formal requirements.

Given that last year’s Capital of Culture was a southeast Estonian village, cities or towns in the Baltic region cannot apply this year. Applications may be submitted by cities and villages in northern Russia, municipalities along the Volga River and Hungarian-speaking cities and villages of the Carpathian Basin.

Aranyi said there was a good chance for a Hungarian locality to be announced the winner, as geographic rotation is also taken into account when evaluating applications submitted between 2014 and 2017 and because the Russian regions were unlikely to submit applications.

Photo: http://www.latogatokozpont-szabolcs.hu/nagykallo/

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters