"It would have been difficult to find a more difficult task," said István Dolhai about his new job, adding that the Consulate General in Csíkszereda, which operates with 70 employees, is the largest Hungarian Consulate General in the world.
István Dolhai, Hungary's new consul general in Csíkszereda, would pay equal attention to Hungarians in Székelyföld and Moldavia, the diplomat said at his introductory press conference in Csíkszereda on Tuesday.
The diplomat, who was appointed on August 1st to head the Csikszereda Consular District, which includes the three counties of Székelyföld - Hargita, Kovászna and Maros - and four counties of Moldavia - Bákó, Neamt, Szucsáva and Botosani, presented his plans on Tuesday in the company of First Subordinate Consul András Mihály and Senior Consul Tamás Fodor. István Dolhai came to Csíkszereda from the Consulate General in Cluj, having been acting as a consul until now.
"It would have been difficult to find a more difficult task," he said about his new job,
adding that the Consulate General in Csíkszereda, which operates with 70 employees, is the largest Hungarian Consulate General in the world.
It operates in a block Hungarian area, which is reflected in the number of cases and the frequency of delegations. He said: he found a good team in Csíksereda with whom he can work.
István Dolhai assured his support to all the cities of the Hungarian block region, their leadership, and the Csángó Hungarian community in Moldavia, stressing that he believes that the latter should be given the same emphasis. "That's our job, that's why we're here. In addition to taking care of citizens' affairs and representing the Hungarian state, our main task is to support and help the Hungarian communities, which we will continue to do, as we have done so far," underlined the new Consul General.
He pointed out: after 14 years, he is the first consul general in Csikszereda who does not have ties to Transylvania, which, in his opinion, has both "advantages and disadvantages". Among the advantages, he mentioned that he can open to everyone with a "clean slate".
He emphasized that he considers it important to meet with the leaders of the settlements in order to map the existing problems and needs and communicate them to Budapest.
He said that in addition to fulfilling his citizenship duties, he would also like to use his experience in the cultural field to help the local community and cultural institutions and organize additional events. He also called maintaining contact with young people a priority task, for which they are still looking for the right framework.
Speaking about citizenship cases, he said: although the number of simplified naturalization cases is decreasing, the number of related registration cases has increased, so there is plenty of work to be done.
István Dolhai was born on February 1, 1976 in Kisvárda, completed his high school studies in Nyíregyháza, and then graduated from Nyíregyháza University with a degree in history and informatics. He said: he experienced the Eastern Hungarian region as a similar social and cultural environment to the one he came to Székelyföld as Consul General.
Later, in addition to work, he also obtained qualifications as a hospitality manager, cultural manager and human resource consultant. From 1999 in Budapest, the II. worked for the district municipality in the cultural field, from 2010 he helped save the Danube Palace from bankruptcy as a crisis manager. In 2012, II. became the head of a non-profit company that includes district cultural institutions.
He entered the diplomatic career in 2021, his first station was Cluj, where as consul he mainly dealt with naturalization and swearing-in matters.
MTI
Photo: Szekelyhon.ro / Attila Pinti
