Culture and Innovation Minister: Time for Brussels to Put Cards on Table

"In the interests of young Hungarians, the government is ready to compromise, but will not agree to the presidents of model-changing universities being ousted from the board of trustees and replaced by trustees delegated by international NGOs," Culture and Innovation Minister Balazs Hanko told Magyar Nemzet in an interview. The minister stressed that the students are satisfied with the model-changing universities, which have achieved unprecedented success in international rankings. The minister also highlighted why it is essential to fill in the national consultation questionnaire and what support will be given to families in next year's peacetime budget.

Hungary's Culture and Innovation Minister Balazs Hanko also touched on a number of measures being implemented to help young people access housing (Photo: Attila Polyak)

Brussels and Manfred Weber work against the success of Hungarians, says Balazs Hanko  (Photo: Attila Polyak)

What will the government do to ensure that this will become visible next year? 
The Hungarian budget just submitted is a budget for a new economic policy and, hopefully, it is a peacetime budget. In the economic action plan, the government identified 21 measures, many of which aim to strengthen the financial security of Hungarian families. Some questions of the national consultation survey pertain to these issues. Doubling family tax allowances in two phases is one of the most significant measures. This means that for families with one child the tax relief will increase from 10 to 20 thousand forints per month, for families with two children this will go up from 40 to 80 thousand and with three children from around 99 to 198 thousand forints per month. By 2026, this will leave families with an additional 320-340 billion forints, strengthening the financial security of 1.7 million children and one million families. The Hungarian government represents the opinion of Hungarian society, and we ask the population to support our position on issues concerning families, young people and SMEs, because it is with the people's mandate that we can fight for these issues.

Let's say it openly: Brussels and Manfred Weber work against the success of the Hungarians, and the cause of Hungarian families, young people and the economy must be brought to victory against a Hungarophobe.

For a long time, you were responsible for higher education as state secretary. How do you see the situation of Hungarian universities now as minister?
We are proud of our Hungarian universities, which are doing very well in international rankings: 12 Hungarian universities are in the top five percent, and Semmelweis University is in the top one percent with its 271st place. It could rank even higher if the four objective elements of research output, educational performance, internationalization and the involvement of corporate funds were not accompanied by the subjective element of reputation, which can be called the Brussels factor. Without this latter, Semmelweis University would already rank among the top 100 in the world. So now my alma mater, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Semmelweis University, is among the top 100 in the world - that's why we are doing this interview here,  I am celebrating with you this success as a professor of the university and the faculty. 

The faculty of pharmacy is ranked 82nd in the international Shanghai Ranking. This excellent result shows that the transformed Hungarian universities are performing excellently.

Last Friday, a survey by the Nezopont Institute revealed that students find that the universities that have shifted their maintenance model are successful in almost all aspects. Why is this and where can universities go from here?
In addition to international rankings, it is also important how students judge the model-changing institutions. Eight out of ten students are satisfied with the infrastructure, four believe that progress has been made in recent years, and more than seventy percent are satisfied with their studies and educational content. Progress must be made in dormitory development, as only every other student is satisfied with the current situation. This is why the national consultation survey seeks opinions on a strategy for dormitory development in Budapest and in rural university towns.

Workers' loans are another important tool advancing the government's family policy (Photo: Attila Polyak)

What steps has the government taken so far to alleviate student housing shortages?

In recent years, the state has bought out 47 PPP projects for HUF 146 billion (almost EUR 360 million), 14 500 dormitories have been reopened to students, and last year we renovated 8 000 dormitories. We now have a total of 46,000 dormitory places in our country, with 118,000 applicants. In Budapest, 57,000 people are applying for 17,000 dormitory places, while in universities outside the capital there are 30,000 more applicants. As set out in the government's Economic Action Plan, progress needs to be made in the development of higher education halls of residence. In Budapest, the brownfield areas of the IX district are the most suitable for the construction of a dormitory facilities with a capacity for 12,000 students. This will be a student city, but we are not forgetting about the development of universities elsewhere in the country, either.

How will you be supporting young people starting their adult lives?

The five percent VAT rebate on new housing costs will be continued until 2026, we will provide housing loans at up to maximum five percent interest and tax relief for companies that join the rent subsidy scheme. In addition, the rural home renovation grant will be relaunched in 2,887 settlements with a population of less than 5,000, representing 91% of the total number of settlements in the country. This is a repayment free grant of HUF 3 million (about EUR 7,400), the other half of which is to be paid by families with children living in small settlements, but the accumulated money on the benefits card (Szep-Kartya) can also be used toward housing costs starting in 2025. Financial security and housing are the most important things for young people, and we are making progress in these areas.

Next year we will also introduce the Workers' Loan, which will give 308,000 young people the opportunity to get a four million forint (almost ten thousand euros) loan at zero interest. Our family policy also comes into the picture here, as with the birth of the first child, there will be a two-year deferral of repayment, with the second child a waiving of 50 percent of the loan amount, increasing to 100 percent debt relief with the birth of a third child, this is much like the student loan program already in place.

What has the government done about the exclusion of students enrolled in 'new operation model universities' from the Erasmus and Horizon Europe programs?

Young Hungarians are entitled to the same benefits as young people in other member states, because they are EU citizens, so they are entitled to take part in the Erasmus and researchers in the Horizon programs. Almost exactly a year ago to the day, we sent our negotiated, compromise proposals to the European Commission to address the stipulated issues on the conflict of interest of members of the university board of trustees and on the regulatory elements for the duration of these boards. We will not accept what Brussels wants, ie the exclusion of university presidents from the boards of trustees, or their insistence that international NGOs decide the members of these boards of trustees, but we will agree on what is in the interest of Hungarian young people. As Brussels is not lifting a finger regarding this issue, yesterday a newly passed law was published in the Hungarian Gazette.

What dos this law contain?
The background to this is that in 2022, Brussels had already duped us by asking for two amendments: rules regulating public procurement and dynamic conflict of interest. We completed that, after which Hungarian young people were excluded from EU programs. This will not happen again.

The current law lays down that the changes requested by Brussels will only come into force if Hungarian young people are allowed back into Erasmus and Hungarian researchers into Horizon. The ball is in their court, or we might say that we are trying to get Brussels to lay their cards out on the table. If we waited for Brussels and Hungarophobe Manfred Weber, the future prospects of young Hungarians would be diminished.

That's why we launched the Pannonia program, which is offering opportunities to 3,000 young people in the first half of the year, and on Saturday in Debrecen we will announce the winners of the HU-rizont program.

The minister encourages all Hungarians to voice their opinions in the national consultation questionnaire (Photo: Attila Polyak)

Besides education, Brussels is also trying to interfere in yet another competence belonging to member states, as they want to stop Hungarian pensioners from receiving their 13th-month pension. What does the Hungarian government intend to do about this?

Brussels is blackmailing us through our young people and is also on the side of the multinationals, so it wants us to abolish the additional taxes levied by the Hungarian government as revenue to provide protections to the Hungarian people, including the utility cost caps and the 13th-month pension. That is also why we need the national consultation. We want family support, not migration. We don't want to support the multinationals, we want to support Hungarian young people and families, and we want to guarantee the 13th-month pension. The peace budget includes HUF 7200 billion (approx EUR 17.7 billion) earmarked for pensions and HUF 3750 billion (almost EUR 10 billion) for family support.

What can be done about the fine of one million euros a day that Brussels has imposed on Hungary for thwarting migration? 

It would be good to have as many Hungarians as possible express their opinion of Brussels's policies in the national consultation. I hope that then we will truly "gain the serve and they have to switch".

In a few days a year-long program honoring science will be kicking off. How is the government preparing for this?

The world's top scientists are coming to Hungary as part of the World Science Forum (WSF) November 20-23, and we are also organizing a Science Expo from November 21-23 for Hungarian talents. Our country excels in knowledge, creativity and research, ranking ninety-sixth relative to population and eleventh in the number of Nobel laureates per million inhabitants. The WSF was a Hungarian initiative, carried forward by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the HUN-REN research network, to mark the Year of Hungarian Science. In order to further strengthen Hungarian science, the government is committed to support the Hungarian Research Network initiative of HUN-REN in a new, more efficient structure based on established international models, and to strengthen the results of Hungarian research that will ultimately benefit the Hungarian economy and society through significant increases in researcher remuneration.

Cover photo: Hungary's Culture and Innovation Minister Balazs Hanko also touched on a number of measures being implemented to help young people access housing (Photo: Attila Polyak)