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
The State Secretariat for National Policy of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Rákóczi Association will again organize the Diaspora Program this year. The details of the program were presented by Lőrinc Nacsa, State Secretary for National Policy, at a press conference on Thursday in Budapest.
The organizers are looking for young people aged 10-25, “those who will be the building blocks of the Hungarian nation in the places where they live,” to participate in their programs, which are open for applications from January 23. Last year, 700 young people applied for the program. Lőrinc Nacsa stressed that
since 2010, diaspora communities have received special attention from the government.
The Diaspora Council that meets annually has been set up, the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor scholarship program has been launched, and the Hungarian Schools Weekend Meeting has been established, with over 260 accredited Hungarian schools already operating in the diaspora. In addition, since 2018, diaspora communities and organizations have been supported through open tenders, as they also do a lot to enable Hungarians in the diaspora to live their culture and preserve their Hungarian identity.
Lőrinc Nacsa. Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
According to the State Secretary, up to a thousand young people could come to Hungary for this year’s programs.
The Diaspora Program is an important link for young people who may have never been to Hungary, but still live as Hungarians thousands of kilometers away from the motherland,
Nacsa noted.
Csongor Csáky, President of the Rákóczi Association, said it was a great honor to be able to organize the programs since 2016, that have so far been attended by over 4,000 young people. This year’s first program will be the Csíksomlyó pilgrimage, to which young people from the diaspora can travel by the ‘pilgrimage train.’ Thematic camps will be organized in the summer, and in December the Advent program will be launched again this year, he added.
Last year, the summer camps attracted young people from 32 countries. Experience has shown that many of the young people who attend the camps choose Hungarian institutions for their future university studies, he added. The Rákóczi Association is confident that these programs will contribute to closer ties between the Carpathian Basin and the diaspora, and believes that this is an investment in the future of the Hungarian nation.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Rákóczi Szövetség