Transcarpathian College Graduates are the “Heralds of Patriotism”

János Nagy, State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister, said at the master’s program graduation ceremony of the Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education in Berehove (Beregszász, Ukraine) that only those communities that have intellectuals who are willing to think and act can survive in minority. He added that the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia can continue to count on the support of the national government of the motherland.

Ferenc Kölcsey (Hungarian poet, language reformer, politician; 1790-1838) proclaimed the program of national renewal with the idea of “influence, create, enrich,” and “we strongly feel the weight of this saying in the hall of the Hungarian College of Transcarpathia,” János Nagy, State Secretary, began his speech. “Whoever wants to influence, create and enrich is a herald of patriotism in action, a person of the future and hope,” he stressed. In his words, Hungarians must seriously compare the present “not with the past, but with the distant future.”

He added:

There will be a place and a role for Hungarians in the future of Transcarpathia,” and the best example of this is the three-decade success story of the Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College,

when “a handful of Hungarians joined forces and opened a door to the Hungarian future.”

Today we have not just a higher education institution, but “a small Hungarian world” with kindergartens, primary schools, vocational schools, lyceums and colleges, János Nagy said. The State Secretary confirmed that

the Hungarian government would do everything in its power to ensure that the Hungarian national community in Transcarpathia would enjoy the human and civil rights that they deserve as an indigenous minority in Ukraine.

Hungary’s government has spent HUF 26.5 billion (EUR 68 million) over the past 14 years on promoting Hungarian education and on the operation and development of the college, the politician added. He promised that the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia can continue to count on the support of the national government of the motherland.

The State Secretary drew the attention to the fact that the fresh graduates – teachers, economists, historians, linguists and mathematicians of the Hungarian future – are fulfilling a mission.

Let them influence, create, enrich, and then Transcarpathia will shine. God save Hungary, God save Transcarpathia!”

concluded János Nagy.

In his speech, Rector István Csernicskó stressed that the constantly developing and expanding college is one of the most significant employers in the Berehove region and “directly and indirectly one of the most important taxpayers.” It is an outstanding achievement that Berehove is currently the only institution in the whole of Ukraine with international accreditation, he added. The Rector noted that so far 4,015 higher education degrees had been awarded. This academic year, a total of 627 kindergarten teachers, teachers and tutors who graduated from the College are working in different educational institutions of Transcarpathia.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/II. Rákóczi Ferenc Kárpátaljai Magyar Főiskola