Visit by Dr. Tamás Sulyok, President of Hungary, to Hungarian communities in the US

Dr. Tamás Sulyok travelled to the United States to visit the Hungarian communities there.

As part of his efforts to maintain active contact with Hungarians living abroad, the President has so far visited the Hungarian communities in Transylvania, the Felvidék, the Mura Region, Croatia and Vojvodina, as well as the Diaspora communities in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Scotland and Austria.

On this occasion, the Head of State visited the largest Hungarian communities overseas in the United States of America.
In Hungary, those who stood up for Hungarian-American friendship have always been in the majority, and now this relationship has become stronger than ever before – stated Dr. Tamás Sulyok, President of Hungary, in New York, the first stop on his official visit to the United States.

Speaking at a commemorative ceremony at the Hungarian Consulate General marking 15 March, Hungary’s National Day, the Head of State said his visit to the United States aimed to reinforce bilateral relations. He emphasised that Hungarian communities in the US form part of the nation’s unity, and that meeting the Diaspora helps strengthen national solidarity.

Speaking before an audience of Hungarian Americans, Tamás Sulyok pointed out that the possibility of acquiring Hungarian citizenship means that “spiritual unity” has now become “constitutional unity”.

Speaking to the impact of the 1848–49 Hungarian War of Independence in the United States, Tamás Sulyok explained that American citizens saw their own ideals of freedom reflected in the Hungarian struggle.

The President of Hungary marked the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, emphasising that the nation established at that time introduced a new quality to international relations, constitutionalism, and the realisation of freedom of speech and religion.

Dr. Tamás Sulyok also met with the leaders of several local Hungarian organisations in New York.

The New York Hungarian Scientific Society, established in 2010, today provides a platform for neuroscientists, biologists, physicists and outstanding scholars from a wide range of scientific fields to come together and, at the same time, to support the next generation. Following his discussions with the scientists, the Head of State expressed his gratitude that, alongside their own scientific work, the Society’s members are also striving to nurture the next generation of Hungarian scientists, and that, although they live far from Hungary, they have preserved and passed on the Hungarian spirit!

The Hungarian students whom the President met during the next stop of his visit to the United States may well be the future leaders of Hungary. They all wish to take the knowledge they have acquired and perfected in the United States back home to put it to good use in Hungary and Transylvania. During the President’s visit, sociology students from the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) were on a study trip to the US, examining the economic, demographic and cultural contexts of one of the major social problems of the 21st century: the weakening of community ties and the transformation of the concept of the family.

They shared their experiences and insights with the President of Hungary at the Hungarian Consulate General in New York. According to the research, the majority of both Hungarian and American young people view the institution of marriage and the role of the family as a social unit in a positive light.

Dr. Tamás Sulyok also met with American students who had undertaken supplementary studies in Hungary for varying lengths of time.

Schools, libraries, scout groups and church communities work day in, day out, week in, week out across the world to instil elements of Hungarian identity in their children, despite being thousands of kilometres away, so that the 15-million-strong Hungarian nation—one that knows no borders—may be preserved and strengthened. Hungarian identity can endure only where knowledge of the mother tongue is maintained and nurtured, and where the traditions of the past are passed on to younger generations.

The Arany János Magyar Iskola és Óvoda New York is a leading institution within the Hungarian community in the New York area, serving pupils from the region since 1963. Their main aim is to develop the Hungarian language skills and cultural knowledge of first-generation and multi-generational Hungarian and Hungarian-descent children, to strengthen their Hungarian identity, and to maintain and expand the community of families associated with the school. The Head of State expressed his gratitude for their steadfast work in the community.