Cultural representation has always been one of Hungary's strengths by which it is well recognised abroad, Foreign Minister János Martonyi said at an event organised by the cultural affairs centre Balassi Institute in Budapest on Thursday.

Martonyi said that the Visegrád countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Rep, Poland) have also become an important forum of political-economic cooperation through a strong cultural background and shared cultural roots.
Pál Hatos, head of the Balassi Institute, said at the two-day event that the institute had organised some 200 exhibitions and 220 concerts abroad last year, while participating in 19 international book fairs and organising 15,000 Hungarian language courses to foreigners. Among the highlights of the past year he mentioned the Hungarian Days in Linz, which attracted 350,000 visitors and the recently ended US Smithsonian Folklife festival, which 1.2 million people attended.

An exhibition of Hungary's trademark Herendi porcelain was organised in Tallinn, the "The Eight" picture exhibition in Vienna and the film "The Door" by István Szabó was premiered and the Hungarian-Italian cultural season organised, he said.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)