The State Secretariat for National Policy would like to reach and strengthen the retaining power of the motherland in all regions.
The year of the cooperating nation is 2024, said the State Secretary for National Policy of the Prime Minister's Office in Budapest on Monday. At the press conference introducing the thematic year, János Árpád Potápi recalled that last year's Hungarian Permanent Conference decided that this year would be the year of the cooperating nation.
He highlighted: in addition to the strengthening and support of the Hungarian institutional system abroad, the building of networks in all areas of life is emphasized, and this year the state secretariat plans to implement programs aimed at the cooperation of these networks.
János Árpád Potápi spoke about the support of Hungarian teachers abroad. He indicated: the teachers' associations have 12 thousand members and the weekend schools are added to this.
221,433 children and young people received support in the 2022/2023 academic year as part of the Hungarian in the Motherland program. This year, too, HUF 100,000 gross support is provided to kindergartens, kindergarteners, primary and secondary school students, and higher education students participating in Hungarian education in their homeland.
The call for applications for the Cooperative Nation Program, the Sándor Kőrösi Program (KCSP) and the Sándor Petőfi Program (PSP) will also be announced this year. In 2023, 132 scholarship recipients joined the KCSP and PSP, Potápi indicated, adding that 25 scholarship recipients will arrive for nine months on February 15 to diaspora communities in the Southern Hemisphere within the framework of the KCSP.
The Transcarpathian social program package continues: in 2023, 11,488 people received support. Hungarian teachers, health workers, church members, journalists, actors, employees of cultural institutions, and members of the church continue to receive annual assistance.
They support the participation of foreign pediatricians in the annual professional meetings, and organize the training of foreign child psychologists at regional and Carpathian basin levels.
He mentioned that as a new element they want to hold family days in all foreign regions.
The gifting of baby packages and the disbursement of maternity support to claimants in the Carpathian Basin will continue.
Part of the program is Megtrő Szülőföld, the foreign mentoring program continues, the network already has 3,000 foreign entrepreneurs. Organized by IX. The Meeting of Hungarian Entrepreneurs of the Carpathian Basin, Potápi indicated, adding that the regional economic forums will also continue. This year's program includes workshops in the Carpathian Basin and the organization of generational change programs for family businesses. He touched on the cooperation between local governments and the fact that 1,100 sister settlements in the Carpathian Basin have been established.
The Unlimited! as part of the program, new groups of students can travel to foreign areas.
In 2024, they want to increase the number of participating Hungarian seventh graders. In 2023, they were able to support the travel of all validly applying student groups, a total of 47,000 students, and the goal is for all Hungarian seventh grade students to travel to Hungarian territory abroad. They will also contact the schools that have not applied for the program so far, find out the reason for this and what they can possibly help with so that the students can go on such trips, he indicated.
As part of the Equestrian Program of the Carpathian Basin, the activities of 89 equestrian associations were supported with HUF 400 million in 2023.
In 2024, tenders for the support of equestrian associations will also be announced. More than 1,500 children were reached last year with the Transylvania program alone. The II. They are also planning to organize the Carpathian Basin Equestrian Forum, support the implementation of prominent sports events in the Carpathian Basin, and continue the operation and development of the sports academies.
János Árpád Potápi also spoke about: this year, I would like to publish all calls for tenders in the spring months.
He also mentioned that they want to reach as many young people as possible, without them the national policy would be impossible. I want to reach and strengthen the retaining power of the homeland in every region, added Potápi, who, when asked what kind of EP result he expects from the RMDSZ, said: the RMDSZ is the Hungarian party in Romania that unites Hungarians, and at the national level the can best represent. There is not a single Hungarian community that can "support" several ethnic parties at the regional or national level, we have to accept that.
Therefore, it is in the interest of the Hungarians in Romania that the RMDSZ achieves good results in each election, and this will be the case in the EU elections as well - the state secretary said, adding that mobilization, which the RMDSZ has done well in the past period, is extremely important.
Regarding the message of national politics to Felvidék before the upcoming Slovak presidential and EP elections, he said: Felvidék is "a bad example" that if the unity is not realized, an 8.5 percent Hungarian community will not be able to achieve the 5 percent threshold. The two elections will be the next measuring stick for the Hungarian Association, and he hopes that they will be able to appeal to many people and take them to the polls, added Potápi.
MTI
Cover image: János Árpád Potápi, the Prime Minister's State Secretary responsible for national policy, gives a speech at a meeting on the details of this year's thematic year of the State Secretariat for National Policy at the Magyarság Háza Gallery on February 5, 2023
Source: Facebook/János Árpád Potápi
