The Hungarian government will spend HUF 40 million (EUR 127 000) on hosting some 700 children from Ukraine in summer camps at Lake Velence in central Hungary, an official for the Ministry of Human Capacities revealed on Tuesday.
State Secretary Miklós Soltész said last year’s similar programmes were very successful and the camps had been both physically and spiritually uplifting experiences for the children. The Lake Velence camps will host a total of eleven groups until the end of August, the State Secretary said during a visit to the first camp. Many of the children participating in the scheme have lost their fathers in the Ukraine-Russia conflict or have a father who was injured, Mr. Soltész pointed out. The children will be arriving from Donetsk, Kiev, Luhansk, Transcarpathia and other parts of Ukraine. Besides camping at Lake Velence, the programme also involves sightseeing in Budapest, he said.
State Secretary Miklós Soltész (L) with Jaroszláva Hartyányi, head of the self-government of the Ukrainian national minority in Hungary
Liubov Nepop, Ukraine’s ambassador-designate to Hungary, called Hungary’s gesture a symbol of Ukrainian-Hungarian friendship. Hungary, as a neighbouring country, has felt Ukraine’s pain and has decided to help, Mr. Nepop said, adding that only countries that help each other can be successful. The ambassador also called upon the Hungarian government to support the further aggravation of sanctions against Russia in the interest of peace in Ukraine, which he said is “unimaginable” without respecting the Minsk Agreement.
Jaroszláva Hartyáni, head of the representative body of Hungary’s Ukrainian minority, emphasised that the country has lent a helping hand to the Ukrainian people and thanked the Ukrainian community in Hungary, which has provided assistance for camps’ organisation throughout.
via hungarymatters.hu and magyarhirlap.hu
photos: Tamás Kovács/MTI