Public educational and cultural institutions maintained by local ethnic self-governments will receive central funding of 1.36 billion forints this year, Miklós Soltész, the state secretary for Church and ethnic minority relations, said on Tuesday.
National minorities, he said, formed a natural part of the Hungarian nation.
“It’s important they survive and pass down their language and culture,” he said.
The government, he added, had recognised this by increasing state funding for national minorities fivefold over ten years while handing over institutions to be run autonomously.
While in 2010 there were only five public educational institutions managed by local ethnic self-governments, there are now around 60, he said.
The government is providing support for renovations involving 60 institutions in 13 counties, he said, adding that 55 institutions maintained by German, one by Croatian and four by Slovak national minorities will be refurbished in 2021.
Featured image: ethnic German lawmaker Imre Ritter, agricultural minister István Nagy and Miklós Soltész after the announcement; via Csaba Krizsán/MTI
