The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade could become the strategic conduit for presenting the real Hungary abroad and disseminating Hungarian culture, Minister for Human Resources Zoltán Balog said on Tuesday at the annual conference of the Balassi Institute directors in Budapest. The Balassi Institute is the state-owned parent institution of Hungarian cultural institutes abroad.
Mr. Balog said both the Balassi Institute and Hungarian diplomacy are expanding, new representative offices are being opened and once reconstruction is complete the Hungarian Institute in Tallinn will also play a more prominent role. Resources will be pooled, which could also mean higher budgets for cultural institutes.
“Hungarian cultural values must be popularised abroad through 21st century means such as multimedia and digital platforms”, Minister Balog said. The system whereby the National Cultural Fund also sponsors cultural events abroad is working well, he added. As an example, he mentioned the successful performance Zagreb, Croatia, by students of the Croat high school in Budapest.
Mr. Balog said the changes within the Ministry of Human Resources are also instrumental in better representing Hungarian culture abroad. Hungarian answers to globalisation and other challenges are being followed by other countries, he pointed out. For example, France has introduced a public employment scheme similar to the Hungarian one and, after Hungary, Poland has also taken textbook publishing into state hands.
(Ministry of Human Resources)
