Hungarian Cultural Institute opens in Zagreb

The Croatian capital, Zagreb saw the opening of a new Hungarian cultural institute this past week-end. The purpose of the new institute is to inform people in Croatia about Hungarian cultural and scientific achievements.

“Friendship between Hungary and Croatia can best be strengthened by deepening scientific and cultural ties, which is the purpose of the new Hungarian Institute opening in Zagreb,” Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics said at the opening ceremony.

He added that, by opening this institute, the Hungarian state is servicing an old debt, since all other neighboring countries already have such Hungarian cultural centers. The institute will operate in a building at the heart of the Croatian capital, where the European Union representation is also housed.

In a speech delivered in both Croatian and Hungarian, Mr Navracsics stressed that "in order to get to know one another's cultures, and for a real friendship to form between the people, this kind of institute is indispensable." He noted that the Hungarian and Croatian culture had been bound together by many centuries of close relations and interaction, but in the 19th and 20th centuries, due to a divergence, "our acquaintances with each other faded".

The event was also attended by Croatian Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic, Zagreb Deputy Mayor Vesne Kusin, and Pál Hatos, director of the Balassi Institute, governing Hungarian institutes all around the world, and Dénes Sokcsevits, the head of the new institute.