The Hungarian nation is united and, as a general rule, there are no matters within or outside the borders, it is necessary to look at what serves the common national goals, said Gergely Gulyás, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday at the II. Carpathian Basin Hungarian media meeting, Visegrád.
The minister called the creation of the nation's unity the most important government achievement of the past 12 years, in which, according to his assessment, media across the border played a prominent role. Without them, these results could not have been achieved - emphasized Gergely Gulyás.
The head of the ministry touched on the extraordinary situation of Transcarpathian Hungarians in the war situation. He emphasized: a special thank you goes to those who, even in this difficult time, are doing a lot to ensure that the mass media in Hungarian remains in Transcarpathia.
Referring to the removal of the Turul statue in Münkac, he noted: the Ukrainian state, despite the fact that it is carrying out the largest humanitarian action in the history of Hungary, does not appreciate it in its entirety. The minister still called the action against the Hungarian minority unacceptable.
Speaking about the future prospects, Gergely Gulyás emphasized that since the media must be operated on an economic basis, the changes that have occurred in consumer habits cannot be ignored. The measurements show that since the covid epidemic, online media has become more important than television, and this is true not only in Hungary, but in all likelihood also in the case of media across the border.
In terms of news consumers, more than 50 percent get information from online platforms, around 40 percent get information from television, and the rest use the printed press. This does not change the fact that the printed press has a value that must be preserved, but its importance, for example in determining political opinions, has become extremely small, he said.
It is also necessary to objectively evaluate the journalistic achievements behind each editorial office. Gergely Gulyás emphasized that someone who worked actively and well ends up on the street and loses his job due to a lack of support.
János Árpád Potápi, the State Secretary responsible for national policy at the Prime Minister's Office, said that the meetings of the Hungarian Diaspora Council and the Hungarian Permanent Conference will be held next week. This creates an opportunity and occasion for summarizing and defining the goals of the next period, he pointed out.
In the area of the media, we can increasingly speak of a unified Carpathian basin space, the media is part of the institutional system of national politics, he emphasized.
Speaking about the results of national politics, he highlighted: the foreign communities were strengthened. 1.15 million expatriate Hungarians took the citizenship oath, thanks to which more than 318 thousand expatriate Hungarians voted in the previous elections, and 94 percent of them supported the current government.
"They rebuilt the Carpathian basin and the diaspora", 5,400 investments were made abroad. They have created a unified Carpathian basin space in education, providing support from nursery school to higher education. The amount of this will increase next year, but the children of Transcarpathia will already be able to access the increased support this year, he explained.
Unlimited has started again! program, which has allowed half a million students from the motherland to study abroad since its inception.
The sports academies have been started, the Carpathian basin has also become unified in terms of sports, he indicated.
Hungarian entrepreneurs were "knitted together in a network" and more than HUF 200 billion in support was provided to Hungarian entrepreneurs across the border. They basically employ Hungarians, so the support contributes to staying and prospering in the homeland.
The representation of political interests has also strengthened - said the state secretary, who considered it extremely important that Hungarian representatives be present at all levels. In Felvidék, the number of county representatives was significantly increased in October, and this gives hope that in two years the united Hungarian party, the Alliance, will enter the legislature. National council elections will be held in Vojvodina on Sunday, he asked Hungarians in Vojvodina to take part in the voting.
Tamás Toót-Holló, president of the Hungarian National Media Association and editor-in-chief of Magyar Nemzet, spoke about the advance of online media. He pointed out: there are shockingly few loyal readers of individual platforms, Google and Facebook dominate the media space. It is necessary to ensure that their search engines "redirect" readers to their online interfaces, so that the desired messages can be delivered to the readers, he said.
Source: Magyar Hírlap/MTI
Photo: Árpád Földházi
