The Hungarian government is committed to strengthening national cohesion among all Hungarians, whether they live in Hungary, the Carpathian Basin or in any other part of the world.
According to the state secretary in charge of Hungarian communities abroad, the government is making every effort to help people who want to preserve their Hungarian identity to remain Hungarian.
Árpád János Potápi made the remarks during an event marking the 255th anniversary of the massacre at Madéfalva, held in the Szekler memorial park in Bonyhád on Sunday.
The state secretary said it was partly thanks to the Hungarian government’s efforts that a memorial to the massacre of 1764 has been revamped and a new chapel built next to it in Siculeni (Madéfalva). “We will also make every effort to help towns and villages in Szekler achieve their goals,” he added.
More than 200 Szekler men, women and children were killed by the Habsburg army in 1764 because of a revolt in the village. Thousands of the local Szeklers migrated to Bukovina after the massacre, retaining their traditions.
The Bukovina Szeklers, as they came to be known, migrated to Vojvodina in 1941, but were forced to flee to the south of Hungary in 1944 and 1945, settling in localities such as Bonyhád.