The President of the Republic said this in a lecture to the students of Brigham Young University, one of the leading universities in the United States, on Tuesday in the city of Provo, Utah.
The head of state began his presentation at the church-run private higher education institution, which educates 35,000 students, by saying that he wanted to meet the members of the generation capable of making a difference in the world.
Katalin Novák spoke about the "demographic ice age" experienced in the West and pointed out that the population index of no country in Europe reaches the level necessary to maintain the population.
Hungary has a difficult history behind it in order to deal with this situation - emphasized the head of state, and outlined the family policy measures taken by the Hungarian government in the last decade to encourage childbearing, as a result of which the number of marriages doubled in a decade, while the number of pregnancies of interruptions was halved.
Katalin Novák shared her own experiences with the students of the American university and said that it is not worth giving up family life and having children for the sake of a career. He encouraged young people to "not be afraid to have children".
After the presentation, the students could ask the head of state, who responded to the question about the war in Ukraine by saying that for Hungary, as a direct neighbor of Ukraine, peace is the most important thing, while those who live geographically far from the conflict do not understand the situation to such an extent.
He emphasized that Hungarians living in Ukraine also lost their lives in the war.
He added that the involvement of the United States in the peace process is inevitable and has a very important role, so if the American president is on the side of peace, the chances of creating it in Ukraine are much higher.
Also answering a question, he explained that Hungary will not give up its Christianity, which it chose a thousand years ago, and the fact that churches are being built is also a sign of this.
He stated that tolerance is an important value, but at the same time, one cannot be tolerant if one denies one's identity.
The private church university Brigham Young University, founded in 1875, is considered one of the country's leading institutions by American higher education rankings, and is listed as the 20th best university in the United States by The Wall Street Journal in 2024.
On Tuesday, as the last program of his official trip to the US, the President of the Republic held talks with Spencer Cox, the Republican governor of the state of Utah, who received him in the building of the state legislature.
Katalin Novák stressed the importance of the family-friendly approach being part of state policy and not just existing at the individual level. The leader of the American federal state, whose slogan is to "strengthen families", declared that Hungarian pro-familyism finds an echo in the state of Utah. He added that faith plays a role in the family-friendly approach, and that nowadays these social institutions are under attack and in decline.
Spencer Cox, who raises four children with his wife, also informed the Hungarian president that a family affairs office has been operating since last year as part of the administration governing the state of Utah, whose express task is to protect families and encourage childbearing. Previously, such an institution did not exist, which the governor called a mistake. Katalin Novák was the first Hungarian head of state to pay an official visit to the state of Utah.
During his trip to the US, the President of the Republic previously met and negotiated with the governors of Texas and Montana, as well as a member of the Washington Senate.
On Monday, he also visited the new office building of the Tesla car factory, where he had a face-to-face conversation with founder-owner Elon Musk, mainly about demographic issues, having children and the possibilities of supporting families.
Vajk Farkas, the communication director of the Sándor Palace, in his statement to the public media, called one of the main goals of the visit to the United States that the Hungarian head of state would seek allies for steps aimed at solving population problems.
Katalin Novák's visit to New York began during the special political week of the UN General Assembly, during which she gave a speech in the General Assembly, as well as addressed the UN Security Council meeting for the first time in decades as Hungarian head of state, where she urged peace in Ukraine.
MTI
Featured image: MTI/Sándor-palota/Gyula Bartos
