The Minister of State for Nation Policy at the Prime Minister’s Office praised the commitment and sense of duty of Hungarians in Transylvania in his ceremonial speech delivered before the Sunday evening closing gala of the Kolozsvár Hungarian Days.

In seeking to pinpoint the specificities of being Transylvanian, Árpád János Potápi established: the Hungarian community in Transylvania has always taken the lead ahead of the rest of the Hungarian nation in a number of areas of intellectual and spiritual life, and in its commitment and sense of duty.

“When almost all was lost, when we lost control, the homeland shifted to this place, the Hungarian statehood was preserved in the hiding place of fairyland. It would have been easier to remain indifferent, but the Hungarians in Transylvania have always been ready to show the way in the dark, and to take responsibility for the united Hungarian nation”, the Minister of State said.

According to Mr Potápi, the Hungarian Government supports Hungarian education, culture and the economy in Transylvania with the faith that by doing so it contributes to keeping alive the spiritual base which provides guidance for every Hungarian. At the same time, he encouraged his audience filling the main square of Kolozsvár to play a part in the shaping of our common affairs, and to have their voice heard at the parliamentary elections to be held in Hungary next year.

The Minister of State referred to the Kolozsvár Hungarian Days as the most significant cultural event of the Hungarian community in Transylvania which also showcases what contribution those living here make to universal Hungarian and Romanian culture and how they contribute to the development of the specific image of this multinational region.

The audience applauded the announcement of the Minister of State to the effect that Anna Horváth, former Deputy Mayor of Kolozsvár, Transylvanian Reformed Church Bishop Béla Kató and Zsolt Tamási, former principal of the Marosvásárhely Roman Catholic Lyceum were decorated with the Award for Hungarians Beyond the Borders.

Emese Oláh, Deputy Mayor of Kolozsvár pointed out in her speech that it is desirable that the festivity of the Kolozsvár Hungarian Days should become a part of daily life so that openness and the respect of those living together with Hungarians for one another should not only prevail for a week, but should become everyday reality.

Upon speaking about the organisers’ state of exertion, Balázs Gergely, main organiser of the Hungarian Days mentioned: this is the pleasant exertion that athletes experience when they reach the finishing line at the end of a Marathon race. He added: he is no longer looking forward to the closing event of the Hungarian Days as he said at the beginning of the event, but to the Hungarian Days to be held next year.

The audience had the opportunity to view the operetta The Csárdás Princess by Imre Kálmán, a production of the Budapest Operetta Theatre, at the closing gala of the Kolozsvár Hungarian Days.

(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)