Hungarian state secretary of foreign affairs Zsolt Németh visited the Cluj (Kolozsvar) centre - under construction - of Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania on Sunday.

Giving an impromptu press conference on the roof of the building, he expressed hope that Hungarian state subsidies for maintaining Sapientia could be decreased.

The two countries agreed that once the university has been accredited, the Romanian state would consider contributing to funding, Németh said, noting that Sapientia is expected to get final accreditation later this year.

"I hope we will be able to put the issue of funding on the agenda in the near future," he said.

Cluj Mayor Emil Boc has promised, he said, that the city would give every possible assistance to both the Hungarian faculty of Babes-Bolyai University and to Sapientia.

Responding to Romanian journalists, Németh said that there are three Hungarian universities with Romanian-language education.

Although Romania's ethnic Hungarians number about 1.5 million while Hungary is inhabited by just 8,000 ethnic Romanians, Hungary is prepared to co-fund Romanian private universities within its borders on the basis of a bilateral agreement, Németh said.

The private Sapientia university, funded in 2000, has faculties in Cluj, in Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda) and in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely). Over a thousand students pursue their studies at 27 majors.

(MTI)