At the annual hearing of the Committee on National Cohesion on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister for Hungarian Communities Abroad Zsolt Semjén declared that he does not see the need to make the Act on Citizenship stricter.
He said that controls may become “harder”, although the responsible bodies are already conducting their work very thoroughly. He added that he is definitely against increasing bureaucratic burdens in this field.
Deputy State Secretary Tamás Wetzel said that to date almost 720 000 requests have been filed and 680 000 people have taken the oath; the process is functioning smoothly. Based on the current trends, by the end of the year 800 000 requests may be filed, Mr. Wetzel said – thus the projection of one million new citizens by the end of the government term seems to be realistic. So far 25 000 requests have been rejected; in terms of public and national security aspects, the controls are extremely strict.
The greatest interest is being shown by Transcarpathian Hungarians, as these days a Hungarian passport may even save lives, Mr. Wetzel explained.
Talking about the Ukrainian situation, Mr. Semjén said that we have to prepare ourselves for all possible situations regarding support provided to Hungarians living in Transcarpathia – potentially even for receiving injured people. He declared that whatever help the Hungarians there may need, they will receive it; the State of Hungary stands by them, he said.
He also pointed out that it was his personal request that Katalin Szili be appointed to promote autonomy concepts; when the Hungarian Standing Conference was not operating, she was the person who created the Forum of Hungarian Representative from the Carpathian Basin – an institution which enabled contact through institutional channels.
Minister of State for National Policy Árpád János Potápi said that next year is planned to be the thematic year of young Hungarian entrepreneurs abroad. He hopes the same amount of funding – HUF 500 million – will be available for the programme next year as well.
Mr. Potápi also said that the newly announced Petőfi Sándor Programme – focusing on Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin, Csángóföld (Bacău County, Romania) and countries of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy – has so far had 148 applicants, which represents a threefold oversubscription. He said that the call for applications for the HUF 100 million Twin City programme will be announced in the coming days. The projects of 100–120 settlements will be supported from this sum. Furthermore, following the example of the “We, Hungarians” exhibition, the preparations of a diaspora visitor centre and exhibition are also underway in the Magyarság Háza; the work may be finished by next year’s National Cohesion Day.