Professor E. Sylvester Vizi Opens the Friends of Hungary Foundation Conference

Former President of the National Academy of Sciences, E. Sylvester Vizi, opened the 9th annual conference of the Friends of Hungary Foundation in Budapest. In his address, the President of the Friends of Hungary Foundation (MOBA) emphasized the track record of success that characterizes the Hungarian diaspora around the globe. MOBA is the publisher of our Hungary Today and Ungarn Heute news portals.

In his speech, Professor Vizi emphasized that patriotism exists independently of the location where one lives. Rather, it mostly depends on one’s language and culture.

We as a nation are successful, said the MOBA President. We have committed many mistakes during our history, but we have survived these, and now we are still here. This is the result of the work of many Hungarians, and we are proud of all of them,” he noted. We are proud of those who have spread the word around the world that one can count on us, Hungarians.

Professor Vizi highlighted that among the 150 participants, there are representatives of some 50 organizations present at the MOBA conference. He noted that there was a huge interest among Hungarians among the world to attend the event, over 500 of them would have gladly attended if we had sufficient capacities.

The President of MOBA paid tribute to those members of the Friends of Hungary Foundation who have passed away in the past year. Among them, literary historian János Miska, Slovakian Hungarian politician Miklós Duray, obstetrician Alfred Pasternak, and András Smuk, former president of the Europa club in Vienna.

He thanked President of the Republic, Katalin Novák, who had welcomed delegates of the MOBA conference on Friday at the Museum of Fine Arts, where the V. Demographic Summit is being held simultaneously. Apart from the Hungarian President, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, Gergely Gulyás, was also present at the morning presidential meeting.

Reflecting on the Demographic Summit in Budapest, Professor Vizi had also warned that we live in a world where families have to fight for their rights and freedom in order to survive. The main focus of the international summit was the demographic decline being experienced in the developed world, and the traditional family model as a solution to demographic problems.

The MOBA president reminded guests of the conference that Hungarians have spread across the globe throughout the centuries. However, wherever there are Hungarians, there are successful ones among them. The goal of the foundation is to make Hungarian successes in the homeland or in their new home countries more visible.

What is behind this success?, asked the President of MOBA. What is holding us together? “It is our history, the sum total of both our success and failure means that it is worth belonging in the Hungarian global community, to belong with us.” However, it is important to add that if one belongs to a community, he also owes that community. Hungarians living across the world feel that they owe something to Hungary, even though it was their grandmothers or grandfathers who have come from the motherland.

Professor Vizi quoted the 19th century statesman István Széchenyi, who said that “respect the past so that you can understand the present and be able to shape the future.” The present that we currently live in is not only about today, but it also determines our future. It is important that we form a bridge, to reach out to all Hungarians but also to other people living in the Carpathian Basin. It is in our nature to help others, and there is no better thing than this. “Love of our neighbor is the only human feature that always brings back more than what is given,” the President of the Friends of Hungary Foundation concluded.

Featured Photo: Hungary Today