Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the Hungarian government will continue to support sports infrastructure projects in Transylvania, including Szekler Land.
Following talks with Károly Eduárd Novák, Romania’s minister of sports, the foreign minister said: “Sports is a tool to preserve and consolidate national identity and pride." So far the government has provided HUF 30 billion (EUR 83m) of support for sports projects in the region inhabited by many ethnic Hungarians, including the construction of a soccer stadium for Sepsi OSK in Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy) and an ice hockey rink in Sângeorgiu de Mureș (Marosszentgyörgy), he noted. Similar large-scale plans are in place this year to support the construction of Partium Soccer Academy in Satu Mare (Szatmárnémeti) and a boarding school for the Szekler Land’s Ice Hockey Academy in Cârța (Csíkkarcfalva), Minister Szijjártó said. Stressing the need for reforms in Romanian sports, Novák said he hoped that Hungary would promote the process by sharing its best practices.
Photo credit: MTI