State Secretary Visits Small but Thriving Hungarian Community in Scotland

Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, Katalin Szili, and János Árpád Potápi, Minister of State for National Policy of the Prime Minister’s Office, met with local Hungarian communities in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Lochgelly, Scotland on Saturday and Sunday, reported MTI.

János Árpád Potápi told MTI that the Hungarian community in Scotland, which numbers around 15,000, is changing rapidly in terms of both numbers and composition. Many come to study or work, and after a few months or years many of them move on to England, elsewhere in western Europe, or return to Hungary. This is one of the reasons why many of them are young families with young children.
The politician stressed that although the Hungarian community in Scotland is small, every Hungarian community and every Hungarian counts.

In Aberdeen, a Hungarian folk dance group has been operating since 2017, bringing together not only children but also parents and grandparents, who together remember our national holidays. The Goulash Restaurant, which has been open in the town for more than three decades, is an important meeting place for local Hungarians, but it is not only popular among them, as the fact that it won the award for the best catering establishment in the town a few years ago shows,” the state secretary said.
He added that on Sunday, St. Margaret of Scotland was remembered in Dunfermline and Edinburgh. She is the country’s patron saint and the only saint Scotland has given to the world. She is a person who links Scotland and Hungary, as she was born near Mecseknádasd in 1047. Known as the Pearl of Scotland, she was the saint who won the Scots to Catholicism, and her work is very similar to that of her grandfather, St. Stephen of Hungary,” said János Árpád Potápi.

He pointed out that the Consulate General opened in Edinburgh a few years ago helps to maintain contacts with the local Hungarian community and supports them in preserving their identity. He hoped that the Association of Hungarians in Scotland would be established soon, facilitating communication and enabling participation in tenders organized by the State Secretariat for National Policy, which could contribute to the establishment and operation of a Hungarian weekend school.

Katalin Szili, Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, said that there had been significant progress in the organization of Hungarian communities in Scotland. Hungarians in Scotland live mainly in the big cities, most of them coming from Hungary, but there are also a good number of Hungarians from other communities in the Carpathian Basin, Transylvania, and Vojvodina.

The Hungarians living in the diaspora in Aberdeen also celebrated the Day of National Unity. At the ceremony, local Hungarian children – pupils of Gyöngyi Zapletál – gave a folk dance performance and sang folk songs, the politician said. She added that one of the most memorable moments of the visit was when a Hungarian boy played the Hungarian and Szekler anthems on bagpipes.

 

Szili stressed that it is important to preserve identity, to pass on the language and culture to our children, as it happens in this community. Families make great efforts to preserve their identity and to pass on the Hungarian identity.

Featured Image: Facebook Árpád János Potápi