At a conference in Debrecen László Szászfalvi, Minister of State for Minister of State for Church, Civil Society and Nationality Affairs, said that the Government seeks to support civic groups which show real results and progressive effort, instead of supporting organisations which ‘only exist on paper’; in this field the Government regards the entire Carpathian Basin as a unity.

The Minister of State said at the closing event of the Közösséghálózat (‘Community Network’) project – which supports Hungarian-Romanian church and civil society initiatives – that among the cardinal Acts drawn up this year will be a new Church Act, and a new law governing NGOs is being prepared.

He also noted that the Preamble of the Fundamental Law reflects unity and the spirit of cooperation between smaller communities, and regards the nation as a borderless community. He said that the economics and culture of each region can be developed – as well as the everyday lives of people – through the cooperation of communities living ‘within reach of each other’.

On the government plans, the Minister of State said that five new programmes will be launched in 2011 to encourage the activities of religious communities in organising society.

In the transformation of the National Civil Fund (NCA), an important element will be that cross-border civil society organisations can make funding applications independently, without the mediation of Hungarian partners.

(kormany.hu)