Today everyone can see that by combining their efforts and supporting one another Central European countries are able to offer their citizens a more peaceful and better life, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the inauguration ceremony of the Mol Football Academy in Dunaszerdahely.
In his address, the Prime Minister highlighted that this multiplies our strength, and amplifies the voice of the Central European peoples even in Brussels.
The academy now inaugurated was implemented with the joint support of the Hungarian and Slovak parties: the complex is a result of common will and determination, and what makes it even more precious is that not so long ago there was dissent in the Carpathian Basin, Mr Orbán pointed out.
He said every major enterprise which seeks to build the future requires economic and political stability, and there is both behind the team of DAC.
A further pre-condition of success is the passion of the people of Csallóköz for football, he said.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the team DAC and the academy have come a long way in the past few years, and have now reached yet another milestone.
He also said that he had just come from the meeting of the Hungarian Standing Conference where they decided that 2019 should be the year of Hungarian children beyond the borders and their considerations should be at the top of the list.
Not only the future of the Hungarian people, but the common future of the whole of Europe depends on whether we will unite our forces in the interest of raising healthy young generations, he said.
According to Mr Orbán, it is therefore important that, beyond political and economic relations, Hungary and Slovakia are also cooperating in an exemplary manner in the field of sports which is an excellent link between the two countries.
He highlighted that unity is the success of the entire region, cooperation strengthens us, while dissent makes us weaker.
Sport unites us, and “combines the fighting spirit, the sensation of belonging together and the culture of respect in the most beautiful manner”, he said, adding that sport teaches children humility, respect for others, the importance of community, faithfulness and loyalty.
The Prime Minister said there are major academy developments under way in Munkács, Sepsiszentgyörgy, Eszék and Lendva, as well as in Révkomárom and Rimaszombat in Felvidék.
But they also support other sports academies because each of these institutions is a power centre which radiates its beneficial effects to the entire region, he explained. He added that the whole nation can be proud of the athletes raised at the academies.
Mr Orbán observed that in Dunaszerdahely football is flourishing, and soon the Mol Arena, too, will be completed.
In his welcome speech, Oszkár Világi, owner of the football club DAC, said that “the history of the 20th century took the capacity for dreaming away from Hungarians living in Slovakia”, as drawing conclusions from their past they do not believe that they themselves can influence everyday life and the future.
Therefore many did not believe that this academy could become reality. It is, however, reality now, and is Slovakia’s most modern academy, he stressed.
He took the view that this required determination, courage, perseverance, resolve and boldness.
Mr Világi thanked Hungary for the support, and for “the care and attention” which they have only received from the motherland in the past few years.