Hungarian Conservative

Zsolt Semjén, in front of nearly a thousand people at the István Square inauguration ceremony, spoke about how Petőfi’s worldview, which was built on folk-national values and Hungarian interests, has withstood the test of time. He emphasized that this vision continues to resonate with new generations today.

Protestantism has been inextricably intertwined with Hungarian national consciousness and thirst for freedom. The Hungarian Protestant Bible translators made the Scripture accessible to Hungarians in their mother tongue, and also contributed to the development and preservation of the language. Practising Protestantism was also in defiance of the Catholic Habsburgs and Austria: Protestants were willing to suffer martyrdom rather than renounce their faith, as the fate of the Hungarian Protestant galley slaves demonstrates.

Zsolt Semjén said that for the whole nation, the Hungarian language is the ‘last stronghold’, so it is crucial that we preserve the mother tongue of communities living beyond the country’s borders.

Guaranteeing access to education in their mother tongue to the Hungarian minorities abroad is an important goal of the Hungarian state, to help the preservation of these historical, indigenous communities.