Strengthening cooperation and friendship among nations in the Carpathian Basin is an “important mission” for Hungary, the state secretary in charge of minority relations at the Prime Minister’s Office has said. At a press conference in Mátraszentimre, in northern Hungary, Miklós Soltész highlighted the role of minority self-government-run institutions in boosting cooperation in the area.
“The Hungarian government considers even the smallest minority and ethnic community to be important,” he said, calling the village of Mátraszentimre a model of Hungarian-Slovak coexistence. The state secretary said important development and investment projects have been implemented in the village in partnership of the central government and the national and local Slovak self-governments over the past years. He added that the government will provide 77 million forints (EUR 229.200) for the purchase of a property and the renovation of a church in the village this year. As regards Hungary’s Slovak minority, Soltész said the government will provide a total of 235 million forints for the upgrade and refurbishment of Slovak-language schools this year.