The Hungarian nation is able to survive if every constituent part of the nation survives, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, who is also responsible for nation policy, said in an interview given to the public service media on the occasion of the day of scattered Hungarian communities. Extracts from the interview were broadcast on the Wednesday edition of 180 minutes.

The Deputy Prime Minister said: for historical reasons, one in three Hungarians does not live in Hungary „partly because after Trianon, the borders tore us apart, and partly because Hungarians left for other countries all over the world after the wars or fleeing the communist regime”.

Mr Semjén stressed: the Hungarian nation can only survive if every constituent part of the nation survives. To this end, we need a strong motherland, must reinforce the historically Hungarian-inhabited regions of the Carpathian Basin, and must retain the scattered Hungarian communities living in the western world.

The Hungarian block community living in the Carpathian Basin has, for the first time since Trianon, gained in strength both in absolute numbers and in percentage figures; what is more, in the case of mixed marriages, the Hungarians tend to assimilate those who belong to the majority nation. This is typical of Szeklerland and Csallóköz; however, „there is a serious decline in scattered communities”, he pointed out.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed: citizenship is very important because it creates a personal bond between the Hungarian State and Hungarians living beyond the borders.

In the context of the decline in the number of Hungarians living in scattered communities, he said it is important that there should be Hungarian schools as „bridgeheads” everywhere, and that there should also be boarding facilities in the vicinity of large school centres in order to ensure that everyone should have access to Hungarian education.

He highlighted the importance of Sunday schools where the Hungarian language can be taught even in scattered communities, and of the need to ensure that Hungarian schools and boarding facilities should be at least to the same standards as those available for majority society in order to turn the attendance of these institutions into an intellectual advantage.

(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)