The Márton Áron scholarship program for young people of Hungarian origin in the diaspora brings together those who wish to put their resources at the service of creativity.Continue reading
As it has always been true throughout Hungary’s thousand-year history, the strength of the nation lies in unity, said the Deputy State Secretary for National Policy of the Prime Minister’s Office at the opening of the third Conqueror Camp in Noszvaj, northeast Hungary, on Wednesday.
In his welcome speech, Péter Szilágyi stressed that learning about our common past is essential to understanding who we are.
It is just as important to be curious about each other, because throughout history Hungarians have always been strong when they managed to unite.
Deputy State Secretary Péter Szilágyi. Photo: MTI/Komka Péter
In the framework of the Without Borders program, high school students could take part in a quiz competition. The quiz, preceding the camp, attracted more than 160,000 applications from young people in the previous academic year. Of these, 270 classes qualified for the semi-finals, and eventually 20 classes took part in the final. The top 10 classes are now camping in Noszvaj.
Within its framework, pupils from schools in Hungary take part in class trips to Hungarian-inhabited areas in neighboring countries with the support of the state, gaining personal experience of Hungarians living abroad. The Without Borders Program is implemented under the professional coordination of the State Secretariat for National Policy of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Szilágyi emphasized that the Without Borders program and the secondary school competition had become one of the most important national policy programs for young people, offering them not only an experience and a chance to compete, but also a chance to build a community between young people from the mainland and beyond the border, strengthening national cohesion.
He said
it was important for all Hungarians to feel that the whole Carpathian Basin is “our village,” and that wherever they go in the world, they always come home.
He stressed that the concept of a nation is not only valid within geographical borders, pointing out that our common language, our past, and our traditions bind us together, but it is friendships and encounters that make us a true community.
Péter Szabó, the independent mayor of Noszvaj, greeted the participants of the event and said that in the coming days, alongside learning and development, the main role should be played by “borderless” relationship and community building. At the same time, he expressed the hope that the third edition of the camp will become a tradition in the future.
Via MTI, Featured photo via Facebook/Határtalanul 2023