Slovenian, Hungarian presidents visit bilingual school in Lendava

The two presidents started the visit in Lendava, where they attended a ceremony formally marking the end of construction of an extension to the Lendava Bilingual High School, and met Lendava Mayor Janez Magyar for talks behind closed doors.

The topics of the talks were bilateral cooperation between Slovenia and Hungary, the Slovenian minority in Hungary and vice versa and the importance of bilingualism.

At the ceremony, Pirc Musar said that the presence of the presidents was proof of friendship and the commitment of the neighbouring countries to promote friendship, coexistence, learning and respect for diversity.

The Slovenian president is happy that both countries helped the school expand, with the project costing EUR 666,000, of which EUR 136,000 was contributed by Hungary, and the rest by Slovenia. The work started at the end of 2022 and ended in June.

The additional 250 m2 of premises started to be used in September. The school now has a new classroom for teaching, a hairdressing classroom for 14 students, and a small kitchen, said Silvija Hajdinjak Prendl, the head teacher of the school.

"The effort of the head teacher, the support from both states, local community and the Hungarian ethnic community in Pomurje shows the awareness that promoting education of youth is of the utmost importance for the future of the region," Pirc Musar said.

The presidents have agreed that members of all ethnic communities must be supported and that bilingualism is a great advantage, added Hungarian President Novak.

"Preventing someone from using the Hungarian mother tongue will not make them a good Slovenian citizen. Likewise, a Slovenian from Porabje will not be a good Hungarian citizen if they are prevented from using Slovenian in Hungary," she added.

"Not all countries understand the importance of the treasure that ethnic minorities are, but me and the the Slovenian president are aware that a member of an ethnic community is not an enemy, but an ally," Novak concluded.

The presidents then visited Radmožanci, northwest of Lendava, where they will visit Hiša Priložnosti, a centre for disabled children and inter-generational cooperation operated by the Hungarian minority.

This will be followed by a visit to Dobrovnik, further north, where a meeting with representatives of the local community, business executives and residents in the local culture centre is scheduled.

The meeting will also be addressed by Dobrovnik Mayor Marjan Kardinar and the president of the Council of the Pomurje Hungarian Self-governing Ethnic Community Dušan Orban.

Novak's first official visit to Slovenia was in July last year, when her host was former President Borut Pahor, while Pirc Musar visited Hungary in April.