Croatian Minister for Culture Zlatko Hasanbegović and Hungarian Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog signed a bilateral cultural agreement in Budapest on Monday. After the signing ceremony the Minister told journalists that Hungary has established good relations with the new Croatian government.
Mr. Balog said one of the elements of improved relations was the Miklós Zrínyi – Szigetvár 1566 memorial year. He said that Hungary wants to jointly celebrate in Szigetvár with the participation of the Croatian, Turkish and Hungarian heads of state, and that the figure of Miklós Zrínyi constitutes a link between these countries. He spoke about plans for other joint celebrations of the anniversary.
The Minister also said that Croatia has reached a new stage in dealing with its communist past, as part of which the Croatian minister has asked for Hungary’s assistance. He said Hungary is honoured to have been asked to be the guest of honour at next year’s symphonic summer festival in Varaždin.
Mr. Balog said that his Croatian counterpart, a member of Croatia’s Muslim community, is an “outstanding individual”, and that Mr. Hasanbegović was one of the organisers of the successful 2013 referendum for the protection of families, which concluded that “marriage and family life between a man and a woman, together with the children resulting from this, produces the cultural identity which is particularly important for us in Central Europe”.
Mr. Balog also said that the discussions launched by the two sides on the topic of cultural identity will be continued at this year’s Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
(Ministry of Human Capacities)
