Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development responsible for Parliamentary, Social and International Relations Katalin Tóth was on an official visit to Subcarpathia on September 7-8. Communiqué.

The Deputy State Secretary met the directorate of the Hungarian Cultural Association of Vojvodina and representatives of Pro Agricultura Carpatia in Munkács (Mukachevo), Ukraine. Several issues arose during the meeting with relation to which the Ministry of Rural Development wishes to provide help. The parties also discussed opportunities for further cooperation in the future.

During her visit, Katalin Tóth also attended the 2nd Congress of Subcarpathian and Upper Tisza Region Hungarians in Visk, where following an ecumenical mass, she laid a wreath at the grave of Sándor Fodó, together with the representatives of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice responsible for national policy. Sándor Fodó was one of the founding members of the Hungarian Cultural Association of Vojvodina following the fall of communism, did much to further the cause of the Hungarian minority during his work as a university professor, and was a determining, legendary figure in the Hungarian public life of Vojvodina for decades.

In her speech at the 2nd Congress of Subcarpathian and Upper Tisza Region Hungarians, Katalin Tóth stressed that the concept of national border had been filled with new meaning since the birth of the new Fundamental Law. She stated that such value-creating events are of special importance in preserving the unity of the Hungarian nation. She also underlined that the preservation of the Hungarian culture, traditions and way of life are the key to the survival of the Hungarian peoples. The Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development also reminded those present that the majority of Hungarians within the Carpathian Basin live in rural regions, and so their survival depends to a great extent on the state of villages, small towns, the land and the countryside, and on the agriculture within it, especially in cross-border regions.

(Ministry of Rural Development)