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Due to the upcoming holiday season the Embassy will be CLOSED on the 24th of December and from the 29th of December until the 5th of January.
The year 2021 was an export success to Hungary !
The year 2021 was an export success to Hungary, increasing the rate of exports by 14 percent, which, despite the difficulties of the world economy, reached 119 billion euros, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó said.
Visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó to the Republic of Kosovo on 28 February 2022
On February 28, 2022, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó paid a visit to the Republic of Kosovo. During his visit he met with his colleague Donika Gervalla Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and Ferenc Kajári, Commander of KFOR.
Kosova Chamber of Commerce is going to organize “The International General Fair Prishtina 2022” from 5th to 8th of May 2022
We would like to inform that due to the National Day of March 15, the Embassy will be closed on 14 and 15 March, 2022!
We would like to inform that due to the National Day of March 15, the Embassy will be closed on 14 and 15 March, 2022!
Hungary and the Republic of Kosovo have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen and promote further cooperation in the field of culture and sports
It’s a big day for Culture!
Hungary and the Republic of Kosovo have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the desire to strengthen and promote further cooperation in the field of culture and sports between them and with the conviction that this cooperation will contribute to streghten mutual friendship between the two peoples.
Lets recap on what we have already accomplished! :
Hungary recognised the Republic of Kosovo as an independent state in 2008 and diplomatic relations were established and Embassies were opened in both countries in the same year. Thus, our bilateral cultural and sport relations go back a decade and a half.
The Hungarian Cultural Weeks in 2019 was the most important event in our bilateral cultural relations, which started with the concert of the Pannon Philharmonic and the Kosovan premiere of Béla Bartók's works. (Concerto for orchestra, Sz. 116, BB 123) This concert was a cultural landmark in the history of the independent Kosovo, as no classical music concert of this scale has been held in the country since her independence in 2008; and we are proud that the concert was the first step in the cooperation between the Kosovo Philharmonic and the Hungarian Pannon Philharmonic.
The unveiling ceremony of the bronze bust of János Hunyadi in Prizren was another highlight of the Hungarian Cultural Weeks. A year later, we unveiled the bust of Skanderbeg (Gjergj Kastrioti), and now the two allies - the heroes of the Hungarian and the Albanian people - stand side by side once again.
The Swiss Diamond Hotel provided an excellent venue for the “Sweet Ambassadors” gastronomic show. Four famous Hungarian cakes of the "confectionery history exhibition", the "dobos torta", the "zserbó", the "Rigó Jancsi" and the "Rákóczi túrós" were prepared by Hungarian confectioners for the guests, who could not only taste the Hungarian cakes, but also take home the recipes to make these traditional Hungarian sweets at home. After the event, Acting Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj posted the following on his Facebook page: "Hungary is our friend and important partner, and I am sincerely grateful to them for their support to our country."
Our Embassy, in cooperation with the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade organised the conference "Hungarian experiences of EU integration" and in his keynote speech, Szabolcs Takács, Ministerial Commissioner of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, stressed that Hungary strongly supports the Euro-Atlantic integration of the Republic of Kosovo. Within the framework of the Hungarian Cultural Weeks, the book titled "Episodes of Albanian-Hungarian Historical Relations" was launched in Pristina and Prizren.
As part of the cultural weeks, we organised several jazz concerts in Pristina, Gjakova and Gracanica; film weeks in Pristina; and a Photography Exhibition in Peja.
In 2020, Ambassador József Bencze handed over a donation of books compiled by the Library of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Fazli Gajraku, Director of the National Library of Kosovo. Last year, a similar book donation was given to Engjëll I. Berisha, the director of the "Ibrahim Rugova" Library in Gjakova, and this year we are planning to establish another new “Hungarian book corner” in Kosovo.
Also in 2020, in Gjakova our Embassy inaugurated the memorial plaque of István Schütz, Hungarian Balkanist and one of the best friends of the Albanians, thus paying tribute to the memory of his extraordinary work; and we hope that this year a street will be named after him in the capital of Kosovo.
In 2021, the world of music paid tribute to the memory of the globally celebrated Hungarian pianist, György Cziffra, and the celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth was included in the List of Anniversaries Recommended by the Executive Board of UNESCO. One of the partners of the cross-border cooperation within the framework of the Cziffra100 centenary year is the Chopin Piano Fest, Kosovo, a long-established recurring program of the Hungarian music scene. A vision of the Pristina-based event series with world-class guest artists for over a decade coincides with that of György Cziffra himself: to champion and support young talents. (This year two Hungarian artists will appear within the framework of the Chopin Piano Fest, Kosovo.)
This year's outstanding cultural event will be the gala concert in Pristina, organised on the occasion of the Hungarian Presidency of the Platform Culture Central Europe. (The PCCE was launched in Vienna in 2001 by six Central European countries – Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia; and the main objective of PCCE is upkeeping mutual cultural dialogue, providing and supporting bilateral and multilateral projects focused on common Central European cultural interests and values.)
Last but not least, also this year we plan to present the Apponyi Geraldine exhibition in Kosovo. (Countess Geraldine Apponyi was Queen of the Albanians from her marriage to King Zog I on 27 April 1938 until the King was deposed on 7 April of the following year.)
We are proud that Kosovo became a member of the European Handball Federation (EHF) and of the European Football Associations (UEFA) with the help of the Hungarian Sport Organisations; and the signed MoU will provide a background for the development of sport relations between the Republic Kosovo and Hungary. It is also worth noting that Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovo's first Olympic champion trained for years with two Hungarian judokas from Paks, Abigél Joó and Hedvig Karakas.
Hungary has helped more than 530,000 Ukrainian refugees
According to the latest reports from Hungarian authorities at the Hungarian-Ukrainian and Hungarian-Romanian borders, the number of refugees admitted to Hungary has surpassed 530,000. This means that, in proportion to the country’s population of around 9.7 million, Hungary has welcomed the highest number of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
From the very first days of the war, our humanitarian aid program has been going full steam ahead. By pledging several billion forints to support those in need, the Hungarian government has launched Hungary’s largest humanitarian program to date. Besides providing direct assistance to Ukraine, the government continues to coordinate the joint efforts of NGOs, charity organizations and volunteers through the National Humanitarian Coordination Council.
So far, Hungary has provided around HUF 2 billion in humanitarian aid (more than EUR 5.4 million), including HUF 1.35 billion (more than EUR 3.6 million) within the framework of the Hungary Helps Program. On top of this, the Hungarian government earmarked a total of HUF 3 billion (more than EUR 8.1 million) to support six charity organizations.
To centralize and facilitate the work of the organizations involved, the Hungarian government established a Humanitarian Transit Point in BOK Sports Hall, a sports and concert venue in Budapest. Here, facilities including catering, medical care, sanitation and internet access are awaiting all those in need. According to reports from Monday, nearly 9,500 refugees were provided with assistance at this transit point.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Railways (MÁV) has issued 173,000 ‘solidarity tickets’ to refugees, enabling them to travel freely in Hungary.
Education authorities reported that children are continuously being placed in Hungarian education facilities, with 181 kids already enrolled in kindergartens and 758 children going to school in Hungary.
In a statement issued following a meeting of the Humanitarian Council on Monday, Government Spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi said that Hungary’s public education institutions aim to help children integrate as quickly as possible. To this end, the government is providing refugee children with individual tutoring five days a week in addition to their compulsory schooling.
According to Szentkirályi, adults will also receive help to find a job: A company commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is assisting refugees with employment issues at BOK Sports Hall, and employers can also get support with housing and travel costs for Ukrainian or dual nationals who crossed the border after February 24.
Source : https://abouthungary.hu/blog/hungary-has-helped-more-than-530-000-ukrainian-refugees
Hungary opened its first Honorary Consulate in the Republic of Kosovo!
The Ministers of the Fifth Orbán Government are sworn in!
The Ministers of the Fifth Orbán Government were sworn in. CONGRATULATIONS!
The list of ministers and their portfolios:
- Zsolt Semjén as Deputy Prime Minister; he will also be responsible for national policy, church affairs and nationalities
- István Nagy as Minister of Agriculture
- Sándor Pintér as Minister of Interior
- János Lázár will lead the new Construction and Investment Ministry
- Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky will replace Tibor Benkő as Minister of Defense
- Judit Varga as Minister of Justice
- János Csák as Minister of Culture and Innovation
- Péter Szijjártó is set to remain in his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Antal Rogán as Minister heading the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister
- Gergely Gulyás as Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office
- Mihály Varga as Minister of Finance
- László Palkovics as Minister of Technology and Industry
- Márton Nagy will lead the new Ministry of Economic Development
- Tibor Navracsics as Minister of Regional Development and Utilization of EU Funds
V4 news: From July 1, the Czech Republic holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union
KFOR Hungarian contingent's Colonel Csongor Horváth has died suddenly this morning.
The Youth in the Limelight
The Youth in the Limelight
Pristina-based Chopin PianoFEST’s young performers in Budapest
Hegyvidék Cultural Salon, Saturday, 15 October 2022, 6 pm.
One of the participants of the international collaboration projects of the György Cziffra Memorial Year is the Kosovo-based Chopin PianoFEST, an active cooperator of the Hungarian music scene. The over a decade-long event-series taking place in Pristina hosts worldclass artists from year to year, and one of its missions coincides with György Cziffra’s heartfelt passion: supporting young talent. This is how the György Cziffra Memorial Year and the Chopin PianoFEST joined forces based on similar goals and mission. Within the the joined project, two concerts and masterclasses were held in Pristina with such performers as Gergely Kovács (piano), Ádám Balogh (piano), Ádám Banda (violin). In October, the collaboration continues with the concerts of the award-winning artists of the Chopin PianoFEST, Andi Duraku (piano) and Rron Bakalli (violin) in the Hegyvidék Cultural Salon in Budapest.
Andi Duraku’s career set off in Gjakova, the seven largest city in Kosovo and continued at the University of Pristina. Now, though,the concert halls of Germany, Switzerland, France and Tukey all feature among the venues conquered by the young pianist. He has won numerous European competitions, such as the Chopin Piano Competition, has taken to the stage as the soloist of the Berlin Philharmonic and has attended the masterclasses of such pianists as Dmitry Bashkirov and István Lajkó. Within the framework of Cziffra100, he will prove his genius with virtuoso pieces: the Romantic mysterious Scriabin’s two etudes, one of which is a piece from his Op. 8 series, especially challening for the left hand, and Liszt’s Tarantella evoking Venice and Naples.
In the rest of the programme, another Gjakova-born young fellow-musican joins Duraku with a similarly trimphant career behind him: the violinist Rron Bakalli. The two play two important violin and piano compositions from the Romantic Period: Grieg’s Sonata No. 3 and Saint-Saëns’s masterpiece dedicated to Sarasate. The core of the programme is Hollywood’s composer Korngold’s incidental music written by the young master for the Burgtheatre in Vienna for its 1918-production of Much Ado about Nothing.
The Hungarian Government celebrates the 100th anniversary of the worldwide celebrated Hungarian pianist György Cziffra's birthday within the framework of an official Memorial Year. UNESCO also lists the jubilee as a recommended anniversary.The Memorial Year is sponsored by the Prime Minister’s Office, theGábor Bethlen Fund and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Artistic Director of the Cziffra György Memorial Year is the pianist János Balázs.
Saturday, 15 October 2022, 6 pm
Hegyvidék Cultural Salon
The Youth in the Limelight
Recital given by the performers of the Chopin PianoFEST, Pristina
Andi Duraku (piano) and Rron Bakalli (violin)
(Joint concert of the Cziffra Memorial Year, the Chopin PianoFEST, MOMkult and the Hegyvidék Cultural Salon)
Programme:
Scriabin: Two etudes (C-sharp minor, op. 2/1, G-sharp minor, op. 8/9) (Andi Duraku – piano),
Grieg: Sonata for Violin and Piano in C minor, op.11. (Andi Duraku – piano, Rron Bakalli – violin),
Korngold: “Much Ado about Nothing” Suite for Violin and Piano, Op.11 (Andi Duraku – piano, Rron Bakalli – violin),
Liszt: Tarantella (Andi Duraku – piano),
Mendelssohn: Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, op. 28. (Andi Duraku – piano, Rron Bakalli – violin)
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech at the official ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution
source: miniszterelnok.hu
23 October 2016, Budapest
In their national anthem, the Polish sing: “Poland has not yet perished, As long as we still live”. The Hungarians reply thus in their “Nemzeti Dal” (“National Song”): “By the God of Hungary We swear, We swear that we the yoke of slavery No more shall bear!” The slogan on the flag of the Polish legion is “For our freedom and yours”. This was true in 1848, it was true in 1956 and it is also true today. This is a thousand-year-old friendship between two freedom-loving, courageous nations. I hereby welcome President of Poland Andrzej Duda to Budapest, here in the main square of the nation. We salute him and all the people of Poland. God save Poland! At our ceremony I welcome with gratitude the revolutionaries of 1956. We wish long life to you all! I welcome with respect the friends of Hungary, who have arrived from twenty-six countries. They have stood by us and stood up for us, even in the most difficult times; and today they are here celebrating with us. Welcome!
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen, Hungarians around the world,
From here we send our greetings and heartfelt good wishes to all Hungarians – wherever in the world they may live. Hungary is their homeland, and Budapest is their capital also – just as the shining memory of October 1956 belongs to us all. For us, 23 October is the day of pride. Even after sixty years, it uplifts and purifies. It is a shared heritage, which was bequeathed to us by students, the workers of Újpest and Csepel, the citizens of Pest and Buda, locksmiths, apprentices, engineers, doctors, miners, soldiers and our executed prime minister. We owe them our eternal thanks.
Hungarians joining us in commemoration,
After 1956, the communist dictatorship continued in Hungary for another thirty-four years. People must live. Even in a dictatorship, this is the foremost imperative. We live as best we can, with our sky and horizons hidden from view, with bitter compromises, hypocrisy, furtiveness, sly circumspection, closed hearts and distrust. In a dictatorship, bleak everyday life slowly wears down human dignity, and after the fall of such regimes all that usually remains is emptiness, waning vitality and mediocrity. But here in Hungary we can thank our heroes of 1956 for giving us something to be proud of – even during the darkest days of Hungarian history, and even under Soviet dictatorship. We are grateful that the memory of forty-five years of oppressive darkness is not the only one that we and every Hungarian born after us will look back on. As provisions for our journey of life we have been given not human weakness or discord, but courage, heroism and the glory of greatness. We can be proud of our ancestors and we can be proud of our homeland. We Hungarians survived both communism and the Soviet occupation. Today, at the height of our strength, we can stand here with our heads held high as the self-assured sons and daughters of a strong Hungary. We toppled the communist party state, we sent the Russians home and cured our homeland of the after-effects of dictatorship. A world opening up before us, straight backs, clarity of message, clear consciences and open hearts: we give thanks that we have been able to build our future on this.
Hungarians joining us in commemoration,
In Budapest in October 1956 the course of history was reversed. Instead of the prophesised global communist revolution, a revolution broke out against the communist world. We sent a message to the West that the Soviet Union is vulnerable, and that in this world the only permanent stars are those atop church spires. Communism, which until then was thought to be immovable, received a wound from which it was unable to recover. After 1956 it fossilised alongside its ageing leaders, and finally together with them it entered in to a deal with the devil. Yet sometimes it still comes back to jeer and whistle at us! Nobody knows the origins of the Hungarians’ strength and ability to attack from nowhere, and once every hundred years to be capable of miracles – like a David with his sling. Perhaps we possess the same ancient knowledge as that of the Greeks two and a half thousand years ago, who believed that the secret to a happy life is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage. We Hungarians have a natural capacity for freedom. We have always known how to use it. We know that freedom is not a state that one achieves, but a way of life, like swimming: those who stop doing it drown. Freedom is always, everywhere, a simple question: Do we decide about our own lives, or does somebody else decide for us?
All of you gathered here in commemoration,
The Hungarians never relinquish their freedom, they never accept its loss and are capable of conjuring it up – even in the most hopeless of situations. In the autumn of 1956 everyone had the chance to see freedom – to see it in its own perfect, flawless beauty. It walked the streets and squares of Budapest. It stood in line at the shops. It sat down at family dinner tables, appeared in offices, in smoky railway stations, and at the sad metal counters of bars. And when it arrived, the Hungarians back then stood up and sang our National Anthem. If it is Hungarian, freedom is wonderful, even when it is dying. And in death, too, it was a thing of wonder: although buried in an unmarked grave, face down, wrapped in roofing felt, its feet bound with barbed wire, it still rose up to live again. It is here with us today, and it brings us together.
All of you joining us in commemoration,
If our homeland is not free, neither can we be free. A person alone can perhaps know solitude, but never freedom. The fate of peoples which have vanished into the mist serves as a warning. If a nation surrenders its freedom, then it can at any time slide back to simply being a minority. Only our own national independence can save us from the all-consuming, destructive appetites of empires. The reason we stuck in the throat of the Soviet empire and the reason it broke a tooth when it tried to bite on us was that we asserted our national ideals, that we stood together and did not surrender the love of our homeland. This is also why we shall not accept the EU’s transformation into a modern-day empire. We do not want them to replace the alliance of free European states with a United States of Europe. Today the task of Europe’s freedom-loving peoples is to save Brussels from sovietisation, and from their aim to decide instead of us whom we should live with in our own homeland. We Hungarians want to remain a European nation, not a minority in Europe. As the heirs of 1956, we cannot accept that Europe wants to sever the roots which once made us great and which also helped us survive communist oppression. There can be no free, strong, authoritative and respected Europe without the life-force of its nations and the two thousand-year-old wisdom of Christianity. And we also cannot simply look on and do nothing while others work openly and systematically to replace the subsoil from which the shoots of European civilisation sprang forth. And although our size and weight does not enable us to shape the fate of Europe, we must take responsibility for our own fate. Even if the majority of Europe does restructure the foundations of its own civilisation and blend its own ideals and population, we must remain capable of protecting this piece of Europe the size of Hungary, which has always put fire in our hearts and inspired the Hungarian people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The secret to freedom is courage. This is not a virtue which can be measured and shared out with precision: people are either brave, or they are cowardly. When the time comes to face a test it becomes apparent who we really are. In Hungarians, courage and common sense co-exist well, side by side. We have never yearned for a role which exceeds our strength, and we have rarely swung our axe at a tree which then falls on top of us. Nevertheless, perhaps our geographical position every thirty years causes history to suddenly thrust us into the main current of debate on the future of Europe. In 1956, after the Soviets pulled out of Austria, we sought to push the Iron Curtain back beyond our eastern border. We were brave and attacked the Soviet tanks with mere Molotov cocktails. In 1989 it was we who had to open our border, to let Germans find their way to other Germans. We were courageous and did this, despite the fact that Soviet forces were stationed here. And now, in 2015–2016, it is we who have had to close our border to stop the flood of migration from the South. Not once did we request the task – it was the work of history, and was brought on us by fate. All we have done is not run away and not back down – we have simply done our duty. We have continued to do our duty, even while being attacked from behind by those who we have in fact been protecting. We have the courage to face up to injustice, because on Hungarian soil injustice does excuse one from fulfilling one’s obligations; and therefore Europe can always count on us.
Poles and Hungarians joining us in commemoration,
My wish for us is that we never become a cowardly people. A cowardly nation has no homeland. There will always be dramatic situations, strong adversaries and high stakes. But this is no reason to surrender ourselves to fear. It is no reason to yield to the pathfinders for fear: to terrorists who declare war on the Western world; to profit-seekers, who send towards Europe hundreds of thousands of people who yearn for a better life; to do-gooders and naive souls who have no idea of the extreme danger towards which they are pushing Europe – and with it themselves. If you can choose between two paths, choose the more difficult one: this is the first rule of bravery. The modern world is suffering because it has forgotten all this. Today Europe prefers to choose what is cheaper, watered-down and less demanding: bringing in immigrants instead of building their own families; speculation instead of work; debt instead of discipline . We Hungarians have set off on the more difficult path: our own children instead of immigrants; creating work instead of speculation and welfare benefits; achieving self-sufficiency instead of debt slavery; and border protection instead of the white flag of surrender.
Honoured veterans of 1956, Ladies and Gentlemen,
There can be no victory without the uplifting of hearts. Without this 1956 would not have happened either: it made the cowards brave, brought the suspicious together and replaced semi-paralysis with the will to act. It created unity, a national unity, where previously there had been only strife, incitement to class struggle, intellectual well-poisoning and a disintegrating nation.
My friends,
Political strength, a parliamentary majority and even a new constitution are not enough: though all are necessary conditions, they are not sufficient. Once again, victory cannot be achieved without the uplifting of hearts and without the spiritual awakening of Hungary and the Hungarian people. The towering example of 1956 is a beacon before us. Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear can see and hear this thousand-year-old truth: there must be unity in the most important things, freedom in other things and love in all things.
Glory to the brave. Go for it Hungary! Go for it Hungarians!
1st of November the Hungarian and the Austrian embassies in Pristina and the Hungarian and the Austrian contingents in KFOR held a joint ceremony at the military cemetery in Peja
On 1st of November the Hungarian and the Austrian embassies in Pristina and the Hungarian and the Austrian contingents in KFOR held a joint ceremony at the military cemetery in Peja. The cemetery is the last resting place of two hundred and eight (208) soldiers who lost their lives in the Great War. The majority who fell were soldiers of the former Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. (58 Hungarians, , 39 unknown Austro-Hungarian, 30 soldiers from Galicia, 17 Croatians, 8 Czechs, 5 Bosniaks, 2 Austrian, 2 Montenegrins, 1 Turkish, 1 soldier from Bukovina and 4 unknown.) It is also believed that there are forty one (41) Russian soldiers that were interned in a nearby prisoner of war camp buried at the cemetery.
New Year's address by President Katalin Novák
Fellow Hungarians,
“That our country still stands is a miracle from God!” Thus wrote Sándor Petőfi, who was born 200 years ago today. How true this still is, after the unexpected difficulties of recent years.
We are still adjusting to the flavour of the sounds made when we say “2023”. Meanwhile we are cautiously asking what the coming year holds in store for each of us personally, and collectively for us as Hungarians.
We would like the coming year to be easier than the year that has just passed.
And if it is not easier, then at least let it not be harder!
But if it is harder, let us know how to struggle with its challenges.
And already knowing how, let us receive the strength and assistance we need for this!
The best way to launch ourselves into a new – and perhaps more difficult – year would be for all Hungarians to simultaneously lay aside their problems: if they could leave behind them the weariness caused by struggling to make a living, the anxiety of an uncertain future, the fear of the threat of war, the disappointment in having to start all over again.
Difficulties are not suddenly banished with the dawn of the New Year. How could they be?
But we have something to build on. In the midst of life and circumstances that are increasingly difficult, there are many who redouble their efforts and do not look to escape. They remain standing. I have seen this in person with melon harvesters in Drávaiványi, in a small shop in Karácsond, the Mayor of Porva, pastors in Gyulafehérvár, school principals in Győr and Szomor, winemakers in Hegyalja, the Suzuki factory in Esztergom and border guards in Kelebia. I also experienced this with the families I met. I thank them and all those who place their faith and trust in Hungary.
We are a strong, fighting, crisis-resistant nation. We have been hewn from the hardest wood. We live in a land swept by the winds of history, and at a crossroads of peoples. Here talent, the artful Hungarian cast of mind and the resourcefulness encountered in folk tales are not enough. To achieve results we need to apply ourselves industriously, we need to work hard. History has also taught us that our greatest weakness is discord, while our greatest strength is unity. Now is not the time to be despondent, but to be united. Now we can take steps to reassure the loneliest among us of this: You are not alone!
My grandmother taught me this: give to others what you would wish for yourself. If the strong stand by the weak, the young reach out to the elderly and the more prosperous have time for those of more modest means, we will make good use of what we have achieved together over the past decade. Economic performance and a higher standard of living only acquire meaning if, on the threshold of difficult times, we do not retreat into our own private fortresses, but extend our sense of responsibility beyond our immediate family to other Hungarians. Just as we have stood together as one for the Hungarians of Transcarpathia and the Ukrainian refugees, we can now stand with those among us who need help for tomorrow. In the meantime we look to decision-makers to make this struggle easier – whether that be in helping to educate children, in moderating price rises, in supporting young people and pensioners, in giving teachers their due recognition, or in making sound economic decisions.
The year 2023 is just a few minutes old. We mothers know what it is like to hold a new-born baby in our hands for the first time. We forget the pain and the difficulty, and are full of hope, anticipation, love and smiles.
So together let us take 2023 in our hands and give our smiles to whoever is standing next to us. May it be as the Szekler people wish:
“May God grant all that’s good
In this New Year,
May He remove all that’s not good
In this New Year;
May he save us from what we fear,
What we hope for, bring it here,
In this New Year!”
I wish you a New Year which brings peace!
Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship
Hungarian Diaspora
Scholarship
WHAT’S IN IT
FOR YOU?
Fulfil your professional dreams while you explore your Hungarian heritage – the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship gives you an exceptional chance to develop both personally and academically.
While studying in Hungary, you can discover the thousand-year-old Hungarian history and culture, experience unique Hungarian traditions and also enhance your Hungarian language skills.
As a Diaspora Scholarship holder, you can receive an internationally recognised degree at a top-level Hungarian higher education institution and acquire highly competitive knowledge to advance both personally and academically.
You can choose from a wide range of programmes taught in Hungarian that cover all higher education fields at all degree levels. The Diaspora Scholarship is also an excellent opportunity to build your professional network and discover everything about the country in a supporting and welcoming student environment!
Lets Celebrate the Day of the Hungarian Culture !
Lets Celebrate the Day of the Hungarian Culture !
With some world-famous people, who permanentlyshaped Hungary's culture
On January 22nd 1823, Ferenc Kölcsey – one of the most important literary characters in Hungarian history – completed his manuscript of the Hungarian National Anthem which is now considered his work of art. It was first mentioned as the national anthem in 1989 and since then the day when the poem was completed is called the Day of Hungarian Culture.
According to the manuscript, kept in the National Museum, he finished his poem on January 22nd, 1823. The poem evoked the glory of Hungary’s past, titled “Hymnus, a’ Magyar nép zivataros századaiból” (Hymn, from the stormy centuries of the Hungarian people), and eventually, it proved to be the most important Hungarian poem ever written. Kölcsey first published his poem in 1828. In 1844 Ferenc Erkel composed the music to the poem, and that’s when what later became the national anthem of Hungary, was born. Although it was 145-years-old at the time and was regarded as such for almost as long, Kölcsey and Erkel’s collaboration was mentioned in the Hungarian constitution as the national anthem for the first time in 1989, after the proclamation of the Hungarian Republic. And since then, the day when the poem was finished is called the Day of Hungarian Culture.
Since 1989 anniversary commemorations have been held nationally and internationally on this day to celebrate and nurture the Hungarian cultural heritage.
Hungarian artists who conquered the world
Over the centuries, Hungarian culture has earned international recognition, but we can never rest in strengthening its reputation. It is of the utmost importance to transmit and show the values of our cultural and artistic life to the world. The question is: What have Hungary shown the world of the diversity of Hungarian cultural life? No question, a great deal.
Hungary's message to the world is that every nation must preserve and nurture its culture, which is a fundamental condition for the survival and development of nations, and that culture is a universal language.
In honor of the Day of Hungarian Culture, we have gathered and presented - without claiming to be exhaustive - some of the most prominent Hungarian artists who have spread the good news of Hungarian culture to the world.
Mihály Munkácsy
Mihály Munkácsy is among the iconic Hungarian artists whose life and art impacted his whole generation. The legacy of his paintings and technique elevated him to remarkable international renown and is considered as an essential influence even today.
Zoltán Kodály
In addition to saving the folk song treasure, the name of Zoltán Kodály, the three-time Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian composer, musicologist, music teacher and folk music researcher, is also well known in the world for his pedagogical methods. The Kodály method is to teach children everything when and how they are most receptive to it. It is now a proven fact that students who learn music according to Kodály's ideas also perform better in other areas of study, and that the brain functions acquired through music also have an effect on other areas of the brain. The Kodály method is now more popular in Western Europe or Japan than it is here in Hungary.
György Cziffra
He was a huge success in the world's great concert halls and festivals and soon became world famous. In 1966 he initiated the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu organ festival and in 1969 he inaugurated the Versailles Piano Competition in his name. He later created the Cziffra Foundation to support talented young artists. Some say György Cziffra is the reincarnation of Franz Liszt. His piano playing is comparable to that of Liszt, especially because of his dazzling improvisational skills.
Mihály Kertész
Mihály Kertész, aka Michael Curtiz, who emigrated from Hungary after the First World War, directed the most famous war melodrama in film history, Casablanca, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1943. At the time of its production, the major studios were making one film a week, which meant that some fifty feature films were made every year - Casablanca was only one of them, and it is still one of the most watched and quoted films. He was extremely prolific, directing one hundred and sixty-six films between 1912 and 1962. Although he was able to assert the German expressionism and artistic vision he had absorbed in Vienna in his forays into film noir and drama, he was first and foremost a fantastic industrialist who knew how to speak to tens of millions of people in a way they could understand.
Victor Vasarely
Victor Vasarely is a very special artist in the history of 20th century art. He became famous during his lifetime and distinguished himself in contemporary art by creating a new trend: optical art. His work is part of a great coherence, from the evolution of his graphic art to his determination to promote a social art, accessible to all. Victor Vasarely was born in Pécs, Hungary in 1906. In 1925, after his baccalaureate, he undertook brief medical studies at the University of Budapest, which he abandoned two years later. From this period, Vasarely kept a will of method, objectivity, a thirst for knowledge… close to the scientific world.
Vilmos Zsigmond
The world-famous Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond captured the events of the '56 revolution in Budapest with a camera hidden in a shopping bag. Working with several of his fellow cameramen, they were careful not to get into any fights, the most shocking scene being when they filmed "a street duel" with a "freedom fighter shot from upstairs by the guards". After 1956, the footage was smuggled out to the West with László Kovács, later the cameraman of the Gentle Bikers. Lacking language skills, he started his career in Hollywood as a garbage collector, but in 1978 he won an Oscar for Encounters of the Third Kind. He was nominated three more times, including for his favourite film, the Vietnam war drama The Deer Hunter. He has worked with legendary film directors such as Steven Spielberg, Brian de Palma, Woody Allen, Richard Donner, George Miller, Robert Altman and John Boorman. Vilmos Zsigmond also encouraged talented Hungarian cinematographers who had gone abroad, including Lajos Koltai and Gyula Pados, who later became world famous.
Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók is the best-known and most internationally acclaimed Hungarian composer of the 20th century, whose musical innovations and revolutionary works changed the way music is perceived. His only opera, The Bluebearded Prince's Castle, is still considered a landmark in music history. The diversity of his work makes it difficult to categorise him, and he has been singled out as one of his favourite composers by celebrities who are otherwise difficult to compare, such as Margaret Thatcher and Frank Zappa. In addition to his work as a composer, he was a virtuoso pianist, a leading collector of folk music, and a researcher in mathematics and goldsmithing. Moreover, he was one of the few people who not only recognised the common destiny of the peoples of the Carpathian Basin, but also actively worked to preserve national traditions. Not only his works, but he himself was very popular in the United States, where he emigrated in 1940, after the death of his mother and the outbreak of war. He taught at Columbia University, where he was later awarded an honorary doctorate.
Imre Kertész
The only Nobel Prize winner in Hungarian literature to date, Imre Kertész created the ideas for his first novel, Sorstalanság-Fatelessness, from his writings between 1955 and 1960. His success, and the fact that he was able to make a living from his work as a writer and translator, came with the change of regime in Hungary. His first novel was already a resounding success in the year of its publication, but it was not until the 1990s that the reviews that placed him in the canon of post-modern Hungarian literature were published. Kertész is hugely popular in German, his collected works are published by Rowohlt, in English by Random House, and at least one of his books has been translated into every major language in the world – Sorstalanság-Fatelessness is also available in Hindi and Arabic.
Robert Capa
Foreign literature has erroneously combined the names Robert Taylor and Frank Capra to create the name Robert Capa, but in fact he was called Shark in high school in Budapest because of his big mouth and pushy nature. Born as Endre Friedmann, the adventurous, restless photographer brought his spirit and coolness from Hungary, which he left in 1931 with a bar of salami in his luggage. His war reportage photographs of the Spanish Civil War, the Japanese invasion of China, the European theatres of war in the Second World War, the first Arab-Israeli war and Vietnam have made his name in the history of photography. One of his best-known images is The Death of a Militia Man, which made him a world celebrity. The stories about him made him a legendary figure, especially his quote that 'if your pictures weren't good enough, you weren't close enough'. He got too close: he stepped on a mine and died in Thai Binh in 1954. His memory has not faded at home or abroad, and there is no photographic history in the world today in which Capa's name is not at the forefront.
Gábor Szabó
The undeservedly forgotten Hungarian guitar genius, "the guitar Nurejeve" played with true superstars and influenced the world's greatest guitarists and performers. Gábor Szabó was a self-taught musician, learning his craft from radio, records and the small Buda taverns of the early 1950s, where he would listen to the secrets of improvising musicians who had no chance of a career under communist communism. In the late 60s, after the death of Wes Montgomery, he became the number one guitarist in America, where he was celebrated as a star and interviewed by the world's leading jazz magazine, DownBeat. He was an unrecognisable artist, well ahead of his time, whose music was often misunderstood. Few people have understood Gábor Szabó's teachings as well as Carlos Santana, who founded his world-famous ensemble partly using elements that Szabó used and offered. The Gipsy Queen, made famous by Santana's Abraxas album, was originally written by Szabó, but he can be heard throughout Santana's oeuvre, playing with Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger, in several pop songs by John Legend and on Madonna's Ray of Light album with William Orbit.
Ferenc Lehár
Ferenc Lehár, the most famous Hungarian operetta composer, lived most of his life in Austria but always remained a Hungarian citizen. The composer is credited with 31 operettas, most of which premiered in Vienna, but some of which were also performed in Budapest within a short time. The Count of Luxembourg, Gypsy Love and The Land of Smiles were world successes, and his works The Three Graces, The Caravaggio, Paganini, Friderica and Giuditta are also frequently performed. Lehár's unique, in many respects innovative, imaginative and colourful works revived the Viennese operetta style, which by then had become stiffly stereotypical.
Interview with Katalin Novák in the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera
Almost a year has gone since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Hungary is against sanctions on Russia and sending military aid to Kiev, but it does not veto EU decisions. What are Hungary’s goals and what does Budapest propose?
The question for me is how we can stop Russian aggression while avoiding the outbreak of a third world war. The goal of Hungarians is for all of us to live in peace. As a member of NATO and the European Union, Hungary stands by its allies. As Ukraine's immediate neighbour, perhaps we feel the threat and reality of the war even more keenly. One hundred and fifty thousand Hungarians live on the other side of the border, on this side of the Carpathian Mountains. We are not only pro-peace in general; we are striving to achieve the earliest possible ceasefire here and now as well. We stand by Ukraine, we help Ukraine beyond our means. Last year, one million refugees arrived in Hungary because of the war. We are also continuously taking aid supplies to Ukraine. In Kiev, I personally conveyed the support and the message of the financial contribution of the Hungarians to the shipment of ten thousand tons of grain to Africa. What should Europe do? I think it is right to firmly say: no more! Putin has crossed the Rubicon. A unified and strong stand is needed. The differences between our countries are in terms of the chosen means – and there should be such differences. The opportunities we have are also different. In this time of war, we need strong European leaders, frank closed-door discussions, joint strategic thinking and respect for each other.
2022 was a year of war. I wish 2023 to be a year of peace!
What must prevail: unity or the freedom to assert individual interests?
I see no contradiction between the two. In fact, a strong identity and national advocacy is essential. The true task facing Europe is to find unity while accepting that our history, our local conditions, our culture, our ways of thinking are different in many respects, while also being the same in the essentials. I see the common ground in the Judeo-Christian roots, in Christian culture. The European Union can still prove to be a success story in the historical perspective, if we do not abandon our Christian culture and if we can continue to take unanimous, common decisions. That there are disputes from time to time? Nothing could be more natural! I would not like to live in a country or in a world where there is no place for a difference of opinion. As for national interests and identity: Italy itself is an excellent example of how strongly people need these values.
How much do relations with Putin’s Russia matter?
Is there such a thing as Putin’s Russia? For me, there is only Russia, and Russia has been led by Vladimir Putin for a long time. Russia is a vast country, at a distance of a thousand kilometres from us, playing a role defined by its history, a rich culture that is in many ways different from our own. It is two hundred times larger than Hungary, more than fifty times larger than Italy, in fact, it could hold the whole European Union four times over. The Russian economy is one of the strongest in the world. We Hungarians respect Russian people, as we generally treat other nations with respect. Russia was, is and will be. Just as is the case with Hungary. There were, there are and there will be relations between the two countries, as between Europe and Russia or Ukraine and Russia. Let no one imagine romance in the Russian-Hungarian relations! Right now, 55 % of Hungary’s oil and 80% of Hungary’s gas consumption is supplied by Russia. We are working to significantly reduce this vulnerability as soon as possible.
We do not wish to interfere in Russia’s internal politics, but when another sovereign country is under armed attack, we can no longer remain silent. And we have not remained silent.
We Hungarians and I personally still have vivid recollections of Soviet imperial mentality and the way power was exercised. We wanted to have none of that in 1956, in 1989, and would want to have none of it today, either.
Relations with the Italian government and Prime Minister Meloni.
Today, Italy has a government of national sentiments that is pro-family and committed to Christian values. We are pleased and find it easy to cooperate with leaders who stand up for the interests of their nation and with whom we can speak in a tone of mutual respect. Italy is a key player in Europe also due to its size, historical background, richness of culture and strategic position. It is no secret that we have had a friendly relationship with Giorgia Meloni for years. She was not yet Prime Minister and I was not yet President when we met. I know her as a strong, family-oriented person of Conservative values, open to the world but who would give her life for her country. She is a trustworthy and reliable person. The interests and the intentions of Hungarians and Italians point to the same direction also in fields like taking a firm stance against illegal migration, the need for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, the protection of Christians and standing up for the values of the family. These are only a few of the areas where we have a close cooperation. I have arrived in Rome on an official visit at the invitation of President Sergio Mattarella. I look forward to meeting him and I am hopeful about our discussions.
Who are Hungary’s allies in Europe today?
I consider the whole of Europe as our allies. We are closely united with the countries of Central Europe because we share the same geographical position and a common history, and this forged us into a community of fate. We also have economic potential in taking a stand together. The Visegrad Cooperation is a strong thread within this fabric. The countries of the South, having first-hand experience of the daily pressures of migration, perhaps understand better why this is a key issue for us as well. More and more people will realise that the natural decrease in population is far from being a matter of course, and we need to address why young people in our developed world cannot have as many children as they would like to have. We share energy supply problems with countries that do not have access to the sea. And concerning the countries of the Western Balkans, it is our shared experience that we need them within the EU and must therefore speed up their accession.
Many European governments, including the Italian, are asking for more cooperation on the admission of migrants.
We Hungarians have been ringing the migration alarm bell for the eighth year now. We have long been met with deaf ears, incomprehension and rejection. By now, the former (and present) Hungarian position is almost general. Mass illegal immigration is a phenomenon that illustrates what it is like when Europe makes tactical rather than strategic decisions. Many thought we could cope with such a huge migration pressure, and there are those who can still hardly see the negative consequences. Our position is straightforward. The EU needs strong external and permeable internal borders. Refugees must be helped, the reasons for their flight must be eliminated, irregular migrants must be turned back, we must take firm action against the human trafficking networks, and the number of economic migrants arriving legally must be kept within limits. And we must accept that European people do not think in the same way about this matter. In some places they want to see more economic migrants, in others less. Coercion cannot be used in this respect.
The EU has sanctioned Hungary on the rule of law: how do you intend to proceed with the reforms and manage relations with Europe?
I started my career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs twenty years ago. For years, my job was to inform the Hungarian people credibly about the benefits of Hungary's then imminent accession to the EU. I was pro-European then and I am pro-European now. We prepared for EU membership with excitement. Many thought that accession would solve all our difficulties. For ten years, we had to keep asserting that Hungary was worthy of finally becoming a full status member of the community of European countries once again, in legal, economic and administrative terms alike. I take the term „full status” very seriously. Hungary has been a Member State of the EU for nineteen years. We have learned the logic of operation and the rules, we are not novices. We demand the same „full status membership” for the Hungarians as is due to the citizens of the founders or those who joined later. A seat at the table in Brussels. And sovereignty in Budapest, in Hungary. We have honoured our commitments so far and will continue to do so. We speak our minds, we participate in joint decisions. This is how I see European cooperation. As President of Hungary, it is my duty to protect Hungary’s constitutional order, guard our Fundamental Law and represent my country. Hungary is a democratically governed state based on the rule of law. No one has succeeded in refuting that in merit yet. I follow the debates between the Hungarian Government and the institutions in Brussels, and support the legislative changes in accordance with the agreements between them with my signature.
For the sake of the Hungarian people and for the sake of Europe, I wish to see an end to this undignified tug-of-war as soon as possible. We have concerns enough, this endless debate is a waste of time, energy and resources. Instead, let us reflect together about how to bring the war in our neighbourhood to an end, overcome the economic difficulties, provide for Europe’s energy supplies independently of Russia, organise our defence together, guarantee the security of Europeans, speed up the accession of the Western Balkans and restore trust in European institutions eroded by a series of corruption cases.
What does Europe mean for you?
My home, including my country, Hungary.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has theorized about the need for illiberal democracy, do you agree?
The Prime Minister interpreted it enough times already. For me the emphasis is on democracy, an order and a functioning based on the will of the people. In terms of values, I am a Christian, Conservative woman who accepts and in fact expressly wants to hear opinions and ideas different from her own.
Viktor Orbán also attaches great importance to Hungarian minorities in other countries often evoking Greater Hungary: propaganda or a political project?
It is a fact of history that in the wake of the peace dictate of Trianon that ended World War I, Hungary lost two thirds of its territory and one third of its ethnic Hungarian population. The Western alliance system condemned it to death. We survived, but the consequences of the decision are severe. We were deprived of a major part of our resources, our hands and feet were cut off, figuratively speaking. In a hundred years we have acknowledged that in the case of the Hungarians, the borders of the nation and the country do not coincide. Hungarians live in every country neighbouring Hungary. Their well-being in their homeland is of key importance to us. We are responsible for each other. Those who see revisionism in this are exorcising demons. It is a substantial achievement that we have been able, almost without exception, to agree with the leaders of neighbouring countries on the conditions for peaceful coexistence. I cannot accept that it is exactly in war-ridden Ukraine that special energy is now devoted to making the situation of the national minorities living there impossible. While the use of the mother tongue and minority rights are indisputable.
The Visegrád Group has effectively fallen apart on Russia and Ukraine, how is it today?
Even if not thriving, the Visegrad Group is alive. A strong Visegrad community is in Hungary’s best interest. Therefore our position is that we need to put our differences, the points where our approach is different on the back burner, and we should show: people in Central Europe have strength, have potential! There is a lot of domestic political excitement in our partner countries. In Slovakia, the government fell again, Poland will have general elections in the autumn, and the vote of no confidence against the government was unsuccessful in the Czech Republic. Over the weekend, however, a new president was elected with a high turnout. I hope that as until now, we will cooperate closely with President Duda, President Caputova and President Pavel in the future as well.
You were Minister for Family Affairs. How would you summarize the Hungarian recipe to increase birth rates?
Young people can be encouraged to start a family by decisions that support childbearing and the raising of children, and a firm stand for families. And perhaps also by relating our own experiences. Like the Prime Minister of Italy, I also became a high-ranking leader when already a mother. We are raising three children with my husband, the oldest has already grown up, the youngest is eleven years old. I know very well how difficult it is to make the decisions in favour of our children when our career is also important to us. I also have first-hand experience of the daily sacrifices and difficulties in balancing family and work-related tasks. But I also know from experience that that there is hardly a greater source of joy in our lives than our children.
We in Hungary have set it as our goal that no one should be worse off only because they decided in favour of having children. The more children someone has, the less taxes they pay. Women who bring up at least four children never pay personal income tax in their lives. We support young people in building a home and starting a family as soon as possible. We forgive the student loan if a woman has children during or after university. I have been working for Hungarian families for ten years with an undying passion, and I could go on and on about what we have done. Suffice it to say that as a share of GDP, we spend the most in the world on helping families. Marriage rates have doubled, divorce rates have fallen, and also the willingness to have children has increased the most in our country. Yet the task is not easy. The coronavirus pandemic, the war, the economic challenges have made many uncertain. But we must stand by families even in difficult times.
The traditional family model and the opposition to what you call gender ideology exclude other family models. How do you reply to the accusation that Hungary discriminates women and Lgbtq people?
Everyone can live freely in Hungary, regardless of their gender, religion, nationality, political conviction or sexual orientation. Our laws protect sexual minorities as well. The Fundamental Law gives special protection to traditional family values, and it also clearly states: the father is a man, the mother is a woman, and marriage is a community of love based on the mutual decision of a man and a woman. Our goal is that children should grow up with a loving mother and a loving father, and if this right of theirs is somehow violated, they should get the appropriate support. As for opportunities for women: the employment of women has grown at a record rate in Hungary. More women than men earn a higher educational degree, the number of women entrepreneurs and leaders is on the rise, while many women choose to mainly focus on their children in the years after the baby is born. This choice is available to Hungarian women. And just as you, the Italian people, have elected your first female Prime Minister, in Hungary it is also the first time that the occupant of the presidential chair is a woman.
What will you do specifically to enhance women’s role in society?
I help Hungarian women what they want to be helped with. As the family bond has been traditionally strong in Hungary as well, yet more and more women wish to achieve substantial results in their profession at the same time as raising children, they need the most support in preventing the one from being an obstacle to the other. The aim is that no one should have to give up on starting a family because they want to have a career, and no one should have to give up on having a career because they want to have children. Talented women, families raising sick children, single parent families are key areas of my support and I also feel it is my duty to pay attention to women interested in public life. But the most important thing is to encourage girls and young women who are afraid that a family and a career may not fit into their lives at the same time. It is not easy. It was not easy for me either. But it is possible.
Women in power: what have you learnt up to now?
Power is a means, not an end. What can my being a woman add to this? Primarily an attitude that starts with listening to the other party. My experience is that if the intention to understand the partner precedes the will to persuade, doors that have been closed until then may open up. Especially if all this is accompanied by a smile.
The full interview, published in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on 31 January 2023, can be read in Italian at the following link: https://www.corriere.it/esteri/23_gennaio_30/ungheria-kiev-putin-5cc1d338-a0d2-11ed-b6cb-0e3019005a4f.shtml?fbclid=IwAR1IobVHkXgxuE9H-dxKXGJaSZH1QUkVTzpzQ1thWrtH9YvoPW1TGzGyF4s