When Hungarians of the Carpathian Basin Are Together, it is a Celebration of Unity

It is important that our fellow Hungarians living beyond our borders can also live their Hungarian identity, said Katalin Szili, the Prime Minister’s envoy, on Saturday in Szarvas-Ezüstszőlő in Békés county.

Speaking at the 26th Carpathian Basin Nationality Days and Harvest Day, the politician emphasized that although 4 June is the Day of National Unity, any occasion where the Hungarian community in the Carpathian Basin and the Hungarians of the homeland can be together is a celebration of unity.

In the Carpathian Basin,

we not only have to think together, we have to stand up for peace, but it is also important for us to work together for the future,”

she noted.

The Prime Minister’s envoy stressed that the Fundamental Law is clear when it says Hungary bears responsibility for Hungarians living outside its borders, while at the same time it recognizes the

nationalities living in Hungary as a state-building factor, meaning that nationalities can preserve their identity, practice their language, and have access to education and culture in their mother tongue.

“For us, it is therefore important that we fight to ensure that our fellow nationalities” outside our borders can experience the same, she noted. She added that Serbia’s constitution, for example, states that the nationalities living there are state-building factors, “but this is not the case everywhere in the Carpathian Basin”. Katalin Szili highlighted that it is important that all citizens are equal and can preserve their identity.

She pointed out that there are Hungarians from Transcarpathia (formerly part of Hungary, now in Ukraine) who are fighting on the front line and risking their lives “in a war that could have ended already” if the politicians in charge and Europe really wanted peace and would not fuel a senseless war.

Via MIT, Featured photo via Facebook/Katalin Szili