We must take the shaping of the future into our own hands, we must write the future, not the forecasts. We need a demographic turnaround. We have to change from a nation with a decreasing population to a growing one - stressed the President of the Republic Katalin Novák at an event organized for the members of the Hungarian Permanent Conference and the Hungarian Diaspora Council on Thursday in the Parliament.
He emphasized: the shrinking of the Hungarian population is not a process that we cannot stop, but quite the opposite. "We must stop the shrinking of the Hungarian population and become a growing one," pointed out the President of the Republic. He said that the Carpathian Basin can be the cradle that cradles children. "So let the Carpathian Basin be the source of the transmission of life," emphasized Katalin Novák.
He reminded:
In 30 years, the population of Hungary decreased by more than 700,000, the number of Hungarians in Romania decreased by more than 600,000, the number of Hungarians in Serbia was halved, as was that of Croatia.
He added: They don't even hold a census in Ukraine anymore, but we probably wouldn't get more heartwarming numbers from there either.
Katalin Novák emphasized: the demographic crisis affects all of us within our borders and beyond, this is also true for Hungarians living in the diaspora. Just because this is a trend that can be felt and experienced in the Western world, we cannot accept that it is also true for Hungarians, he emphasized.
The President of the Republic said: "2024 can be the year of opportunity for all of us", and in this exciting year it will also be clear what kind of answers we can give to the conflicts and challenges before us together.
He spoke about the upcoming elections in neighboring countries and the world and said: an election campaign always affects the lives of Hungarians, the everyday lives of Hungarians and the relative peace of Hungarians. It is also a question of how Europe can get out of the conflicts, how it can face the challenges, and it is also a question of how we here in the Carpathian Basin will take our exams in this very exciting year of 2024.
Katalin Novák said: the task of leaders is to represent Hungarian interests, both in the old and in the changed circumstances.
"I personally feel it is my duty to persuade the leaders of the neighboring countries to improve the situation of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin, even assuming the stamp of naivety."
- he stressed, emphasizing that it should become natural that Hungary's leaders have the right to meet their compatriots at any time.
In her speech, Katalin Novák recalled five memorable locations with the stories related to them from the period since she took office last May, including Beregszász, Nagykároly and Bácsfeketehegy.
The president of the republic remembered the recently deceased István Pásztor, who "set an example of how to remain Hungarian even in the most difficult circumstances with humanity, patience, tenacity, twisted intelligence and a sense of reality, and how to represent the cause of Hungarians in the midst of all this".
MTI
Featured image: President of the Republic Katalin Novák gives a speech, flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén (b) and László Kövér, Speaker of the Parliament (b2), at a reception in honor of members of the Hungarian Permanent Conference (MÁÉRT) and the Diaspora Council in the Hunting Room of the Parliament, November 2023 on the 16th. (Photo: MTI/Zoltán Máthé)
