State Secretary Levente Magyar said the Hungarian government's economic aid program has helped ethnic Hungarians in Serbia's northern Vojvodina province stay and prosper in their homelands.
Marking the closure of the programme’s first, six-year cycle, Magyar said in Subotica (Szabadka) that the scheme had helped the local Hungarian community gain unprecedented political strength and organization. “A new world has opened up for the local community… we have not yet reached the goal, but a very important milestone,” he said. The “success story” of the program is not only made up of development projects, but “dozens of new or renovated schools, kindergartens, churches, and community centers” as well as links between the infrastructure of the two countries facilitating easier access for Vojvodinians to Hungary and the whole of Europe, the state secretary said. He noted that dozens of Hungarian companies were now active in Serbia, with their investments totalling HUF 53 billion (EUR 145m).
István Pásztor, the head of ethnic Hungarian party VMSZ, said that in the past 6 years 14,169 bidders had been awarded in the program, 1,110 homes were built and 667 new ventures were set up.
Photo credit: MTI