The Hungarian government and the Hungarian Scout Association share the same basic values, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at the inauguration of the conference and training centre of the Hungarian Scout Association in Nagykovacsi, near Budapest. The Hungarian government and the Scout Association both want to train resourceful young people who believe in the values that have sustained Hungarians for a thousand years, Orban said. Hopefully, the two can act as allies in the future, he added.
“Family, the homeland and a comradeship in which we stand up for each other are the natural bases of our way of thinking. We believe that Hungarians belong together, whether they live in diasporas or in Hungary, and that the nation is a living community and not fiction,” he said. “Modern times and fashion trends could undermine our cultural values if we let that happen…,” he added.
The newly revamped centre can become a centre of force of the new Christian democracy of the 21st century, Orban said. This paradigm guarantees the dignity, security and freedom of people, the equality of men and women, the traditional family model, Christian culture, and gives the nation a “chance to survive and prosper” in the 21st century, he said.
Jozsef Potor, executive chairman of the association, former student of the Reformed College in Debrecen said that scouts are “the type of youth needed nowadays”. They have learnt cooperation, recognise and swiftly solve problems and work not for themselves but others, he said.
As part of the ceremony, church leaders, incliding Bishop Dr. István Bogárdi Szabó, President of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary, gave their blessing on the re-newed building.
Scouting is one of the biggest youth movements in the world and Hungary. There are about 38 million Scouts working in more than countries all over the globe, with one common goal in view: to support children and young people to become active and committed adults. In the 200 groups of the Hungarian Scout Association, which was founded in 1912, there are about 10 thousand Scouts working actively, in collaboration with the Hungarian Scout communities living abroad.
The centre was established in a 19th century castle consecutively owned by the Teleki and Tisza families. The Hungarian government donated it to the scouts in 2013, and funded the reconstruction with a 2.5 billion forint (EUR 7.8m) grant. The Scout Association is to hold conferences, jamborees and trainings on the site.
Source: MTI/reformatus.hu