The seat of the Hungarian minority was opened in Lendava – PHOTOS
The President of Hungary, Katalin Novák, and the President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, attended the opening of the new headquarters of the Prekmurska Hungarian National Community (MMÖNK) in Lendva on Friday afternoon.
At the event at the end of his two-day official visit to Slovenia, Novák welcomed the fact that the Prekmurje Hungarians are represented in the Slovenian parliament and that their rights to language, education and cultural self-determination are guaranteed. She said that the Hungarian government wants to help the prosperity of Lendava with its contribution to the restoration of the building.
Pahor said that “this is a happy period in history for both Slovenes and Hungarians, because they live in a sovereign country where the Hungarians are in Slovenia and the Slovenes are in Hungary, connecting the two nations”. “Slovenes and Hungarians are proud of our national identity, which we must nurture in Europe, our great common home,” he said.
Ferenc Horváth, president of MMÖNK, said that “the old dream of Fr [Hungarian] community realized”, adding that the new headquarters will help them stay together and preserve their heritage.
Hungarian President in Slovenia: Europe must be united in its response to war
Europe must be united in its response to the war in Ukraine, Hungarian and Slovenian presidents Katalin Novák and Borut Pahor said at the joint first conference after Friday’s conversation in Ljubljana. The Hungarian president pointed out that this week’s meeting with Pahor was her second since assuming office earlier this year and that her visit to Slovenia was her first official trip to the neighboring country. Novák praised the developing economic ties between Hungary and Slovenia and highlighted the increasingly close cooperation in infrastructure development.
Slovenia’s Prekmurje (Muravidék) and Hungary’s Rábavidék are increasingly acting as a common economic area along the border,
Novák said that both governments have allocated 5 million euros per year for a five-year economic development plan for the region. The President also highlighted bilateral cooperation in the fields of education, culture, heritage protection and science.
Novák thanked Slovenia for its attitude towards the Hungarian minority. “It becomes even more important in times of war,” she said. Hungarians in Slovenia can live peacefully, preserve their traditions and mother tongue, and can contribute to the development of Slovenia without having to give up their Hungarian identity, she said, adding that this also applies to Slovenians living in Hungary.
Regarding the war, Novák said that Europe must remain united in its response to the conflict. Before making decisions, however, he should consider the consequences of his decisions, she added. Europe must make decisions that harm Russia in particular, she said.
Novák said the war has also created challenges affecting the entire region, such as the energy situation, rising prices, inflation and increasing migration pressure. Coping with these challenges requires stability, which requires resources, she said, adding that Hungary also needs access to European Union funds to which it is entitled.
Meanwhile, Novák expressed Hungary’s support for EU expansion in the Western Balkans and said that the granting of candidate country status to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the acceleration of Serbia’s accession process are in the fundamental interest of Europe.
Pahor thanked Novák for choosing Slovenia as the first neighboring country to be president. “This is a courtesy that signals the continuation of good relations between our two countries”, he noted of his eight meetings in the last ten years with former Hungarian President Janos Ader. “We live in a very complex geopolitical time, so we need friends,” said Pahor.
He thanked the Hungarian president for her unconditional support of Slovenia’s position on the European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
When asked about the war in Ukraine, Pahor said that Russia attacked its neighbor “in an illegitimate, immoral way”, thereby also attacking collective European values. “We must unite for a just peace, because such a peace will only last if the rights of the attacked country are guaranteed,” said the Slovenian president.
Source: MTI