After many years Hungarian diplomatic presence has returned to Lendva, the capital of the Hungarian community in Slovenia, Levente Magyar, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Thursday at the opening of the new building of the Hungarian consulate general in Lendva, in Slovenia.

He highlighted that this was the twenty-third foreign representation that had been opened or re-opened around the world, from Latin America to East Asia, in the past four years. “However, the representations in the Carpathian Basin are closest to our hearts, and the Lendva representation is one of these”, he said.

He stressed that Lendva occupies a prominent place on the map of the Hungarian government, and the fact that the foreign representation has been re-built this swiftly is clearly a reflection of the excellent relations that Hungary maintains with the Slovenian government and people.

Mr Magyar greatly appreciated the gestures of the Slovenian party with which they have allowed Hungary to provide grants worth more than HUF 1.2 billion for Hungarian farmers and entrepreneurs in Slovenia in the past six months. He pointed out that this would not have been possible without the support of the Slovenian government.

According to the Parliamentary State Secretary, this programme is necessary to enable the Hungarian community in Muravidék (Prekmurje) to survive and gain in strength.

He stated that if in the Hungarian parliamentary elections to be held on 8 April “the national government in office at present is confirmed in its position, this work will continue”. “In these elections we will have to protect not only our culture, but equally our economic achievements”, he added.

Mr Magyar took the view that in the past few years they had been able to help Hungarian communities beyond the borders to an unprecedented degree. And the Hungarians of Muravidék, too, benefit from the joint projects of Hungary and Slovenia, he added.

From among these, the politician mentioned that two new border crossing stations had been opened, and another two would be installed within the next two years. The conversion of the M70 road into a four-lane motorway will soon begin in the interest of finally building the section of motorway between Budapest and Ljubljana. They are also planning to reinstate the Rédics-Lendva railway line and to construct a second set of railway tracks which will be one of the largest Hungarian railway projects for a long time.

Regarding public roads, he told the Hungarian news agency MTI that at present there are ten road connections between the two countries which represents a road density that is better than the Hungarian average, but still falls far behind the Western European average.

Two of these ten roads have been inaugurated in the past few years, and they are planning to inaugurate another two in the next two years.

Consul General Gyula Földes said in his speech at the inauguration ceremony that the building of the new consulate general in its restored and refurbished state has preserved its original form. The building which was built in 1884 accommodated the Alsó-Lendva savings bank. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade had the building refurbished and converted to its current function in 2018, in the European Year of Cultural Heritage.

After the inauguration of the building of the consulate general, the Parliamentary State Secretary travelled to Lendvavedes in Hungary where he laid down the foundation stone of the road and bicycle path between Lendvavedes and Hosszúfalu in Slovenia together with Klemen Potisek, State Secretary of the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure.

Regarding this project, the Parliamentary State Secretary highlighted that this road will connect together two villages between which there has been no connection for 100 years. “Not only are we building a road, we are also recreating community ties”, he underlined.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)