“The Croatian economic development programme is being launched with a budget of half a billion forints (EUR1.6 million), and if the first few months bring the desired results then another half a billion forints will be available to applicants next year”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Parliamentary State Secretary, Levente Magyar said in Várdaróc (Vardarac, Croatia) on Friday.

At the official launch of the Croatian section of Hungary’s Carpathian Basin economic development programme, Mr. Magyar highlighted: “Hungary has now gained enough economic strength to enable it to not only develop itself, but also the areas of neighbouring countries that are inhabited by Hungarians”.

The State Secretary encourages the some 150 participants of the opening ceremony to make good use of the opportunity and apply for funding. “This is an opportunity the likes of which has not existed since the regime changes in Eastern Europe”, he pointed out.

Mr. Magyar thanked the Croatian Government and the county’s local government for their support, which in his opinion is vital to the success of the programme.

In reply to a question from Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Magyar explained that similarly to other regions within the Carpathian Basin that are inhabited by Hungarian minorities, agriculture also is also dominant here in Croatia, and accordingly the Government would like to link the newly launched economic development programme to agriculture. “We are convinced that this rural region has agricultural capabilities that can transform it into one of Europe’s most blooming agricultural areas”, he said. “This requires two things: one of them is capital, which the Hungarian Government will now be able to provide in the case of a few hundred farmers, and the other is the market, which the Government can also help to organise”, he added. “This can give rise to a system that provides a breakout opportunity for the whole area and the whole Drávaszög region”, he declared.

The State Secretary noted that not all government are as flexible as the Croatian Government, but added that the programme is also expected to be successfully launched in the other countries neighbouring Hungary before the end of this year. “The Vojvodina programme will be launched within a few weeks, and we are also close to launching the Transylvanian programme”, he declared. “If we succeed, then by the end of this year we will be able to report on the fact that this historic programme, which means tens of billions of forints in funding in both 2017 and 2018, has been launched in all six neighbouring countries that are inhabited by significant Hungarian minorities”, he added.

President of the Democratic Union of Hungarians of Croatia (HMDK) Sándor Jakab told MTI: “We have been waiting for this moment for a very long time, because it has long been stated that one of the very important fundamental pillars for enabling the Hungarian minority to remain in existence is active participation in economic life, and that this is as least as important as Hungarian education and religious life”. “We have now finally reached the moment when our mother country is also providing its full support within the field of boosting economic life”, he underlined.

(MTI)