Csaba Sógor's exhibition on Hungarian explorers presented in Slovenia
Csaba Sógor met with Hungarian minority leaders from Slovenia and the Hungarian ambassador in Ljubljana to discuss the situation of the Hungarian communities in Romania and Slovenia. The Hungarian MEP from Transylvania arrived in Slovenia on the 16th of October for the opening of his exhibition on Hungarian explorers entitled Encounters.
István Szent-Iványi, ambassador of Hungary in Ljubljana, Ferenc Horváth, president of the National and Local Governments Community of the Prekmurje Region, Kamal Izidor Shaker, President of the European Affairs Committee of the Slovenian Parliament and MPs Laszló Göncz and Ferenc Jár were also present at the meeting.
The participants at the meeting declared during the discussions on the Hungarian communities in the two countries that the minority protection laws of Slovenia, considered to be an excellent example of good practice, have many shortcomings when it comes to their effective application and enforcement. Talking about cross-border relations between national communities, MEP Csaba Sógor explained how the European Union programmes such as Erasmus, the Danube Strategy or the different traineeships are links between minority communities.
Those present agreed on the fact that Slovenia, Hungary and Romania can find common goals in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, but also on the idea that the economic success of this project largely depends on education and especially on the revision of nationalist perspectives on history. “The fears based on historical misconceptions can lead to mistrust during cross-border co-operation and even in cross-border investment. In addition to promoting multiculturalism we need to learn about each other’s history, language and literature in order to dissipate tensions among neighbouring nations”, pointed out Csaba Sógor.
Following the meeting, the RMDSZ MEP travelled to Lendava in the Prekmujre region of Slovakia to open the exhibition about Hungarian explorers to Asia and Africa. The exhibition, which was also showcased in Brussels and Transylvania, travelled to Slovenia at the invitation of Ferenc Horváth, president of the National and Local Governments Community of the Prekmurje Region. At the opening of the exhibition writer and cyclist Zoltán Bujna presented the photographic documentation of his trip made in the footsteps of explorer Ármin Vámbéry. 150 years after Ármin Vámbéry's trip, the cyclist covered the explorer's route in 107 days in 2013.
The exhibition is open to the public in the Bánffy Centre of Lendava.
