First Ever Hungarian Diaspora Meeting Held in Washington, D.C.

The first-ever comprehensive Hungarian diaspora meeting in the United States was held in Washington, D.C. on Friday, timed to coincide with the official visit of the Secretary of State for National Policy. At the event, held at the Hungarian Embassy, Lőrinc Nacsa provided information on the government’s national policy plans and efforts, as well as on various support measures.

Mr. Nacsa asked the local Hungarian communities to cooperate with each other. He emphasized that if there are several Hungarian organizations in an American city, they should organize their celebrations together, which the Hungarian state can support. He pointed out that “Hungarian organizations in the diaspora are not competing with each other, but with time, in order to survive.”

In an interview with MTI, the State Secretary for National Policy stressed that

the leaders of Hungarian American diaspora organizations and communities can be partners and help build the relationship between the United States and Hungary, which has been put on a new footing with the new administration taking office.

Hungarian Ambassador to the United States Szabolcs Takács told MTI that they would like to make the first-ever U.S.-wide diaspora meeting a tradition, so that in the future, a national meeting will be held at least once a year, even in different parts of the United States. The diplomat said it was part of their daily work to remove all administrative and bureaucratic obstacles that make life difficult for Hungarian Americans.

Among these, he pointed to the immigration restrictions imposed during the previous Biden administration, and mentioned the visa problem. The latter also affected the Kőrösi Csoma Scholarship recipients who come to the United States to help the local Hungarian community strengthen and expand its identity. The ambassador stressed that this is an issue to be resolved in the short term.

Diaspora leaders from Florida, Georgia, California, Cleveland, and Chicago, among others, attended the meeting at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Ildikó Pataki, North American Regional Chair of the Hungarian Diaspora Council, cited recent examples of Hungarian-American unity. She highlighted initiatives to help Hungarian victims of the recent hurricanes in Florida, the floods in North and South Carolina, and the California fires. As for future plans, she pointed out that they are already preparing for 2026, the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and would like to show the contribution of Hungarians to the building of the country on the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States.

The Hungarian American Coalition’s “America250” program was presented by the umbrella organization’s president, Andrea Lauer Rice, who highlighted the preparations for the upcoming anniversaries and introduced their initiative for a network of Hungarian American youth, called the HYPE program.

Dr. Sándor Végh, the president of the Kossuth Foundation, which runs Kossuth House in Washington, D.C., spoke about coordination between Hungarian organizations in the US capital, and also highlighted the generational shift to ensure that diaspora organizations can continue to operate, even adapting their programs to the needs of younger generations.

Via MTI, Featured photo via Facebook/Lőrinc Nacsa