2022 is the Year of the Acting Nation, we will continue the joint work we have started with Hungarian organizations in Western Europe - stated János Árpád Potápi, the State Secretary responsible for national policy at the Prime Minister's Office, in his presentation at the General Assembly of the National Association of Hungarian Organizations in Western Europe (NYEOMSZSZ) in Basel on Saturday.
Speaking to MTI by phone, the state secretary said that in connection with the parliamentary election on April 3, 2022, he thanked the organizational leaders of the Carpathian basin and Hungarians abroad for their activity and voter mobilization in the campaign. As he said: thanks to this, the number of votes cast by Hungarians abroad set a record this year: 318,083 postal votes were received, which is 50,000 more than in 2018. He expressed his joy that nearly 94 percent of the postal votes cast by members of the Hungarian diaspora supported the continuation of the nation-building policy of Fidesz-KDNP.
János Árpád Potápi highlighted at the NYEOMSZSZ General Assembly in Basel that
This year, government programs from before the coronavirus epidemic can finally be restarted, still focusing on children and youth.
According to the plans, the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Program (KCSP) will also be restarted on June 15, in connection with which he mentioned that since the KCSP's launch in 2013, 661 scholarship recipients have already helped Hungarian communities abroad with their activities in 29 countries.
He added that this year the government announced a project writing competition on the occasion of the bicentenary of the birth of Sándor Petőfi to commemorate the poet's life.
He said: the Diaspora Application Program will also be relaunched in order to support the operation, development, procurement of equipment, as well as programs and events of Hungarian organizations and Hungarian weekend schools abroad. In addition, camps aimed at young people and study trips to the Carpathian Basin will also resume.
The state secretary pointed out that this year the 5th Weekend Meeting of Hungarian Schools already took place, in which 160 participants from 28 countries took part online. He was happy to announce that even during the coronavirus pandemic, new Hungarian weekend schools were started all over the world.
János Árpád Potápi emphasized that the professional support of the Hungarian weekend schools is carried out in cooperation with the staff of the Széchenyi István University in Győr, who provide further training to teachers of Hungarian language and culture in the diaspora, and a free online curriculum sharing interface was also opened for their support, and the Apáczai newsletter was launched in May 2021 .
Speaking about the Rákóczi Association, the state secretary underlined that in 2022, Hungarian youths between the ages of 10 and 25 abroad and teachers working in diaspora communities may once again go on a study trip to Hungary. As he said, 443 people have signed up for this year's camps.
61 young people started their studies in Hungary in the 2021/2022 academic year within the framework of the Diaspora Higher Education Scholarship Program operated by the Tempus Public Foundation under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and 119 valid applications from 24 countries were received for the program announced for the 2022/2023 academic year.
The State Secretary expressed his joy at the establishment of the European Hungarian Youth Council (EMIT) umbrella organization to strengthen the identity of young Hungarians in Europe, and the government publication presenting the joint national policy results achieved by the government and the relevant organizations over the past 12 years is now available not only in print but also online is also available.
Source: Felvidek.ma
Featured image: MTI
