Latest news with #Hankó
Budapest Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Hankó: It is time to launch a rule-of-law procedure against Brussels
Balázs Hankó said Hungary was not alone, with the MEPs of several other countries expressing their support for family protection and normality at the initiative of the Patriots for Europe group. Balázs Hankó, the minister for culture and innovation, said in Strasbourg on Tuesday: 'It is time to launch a rule-of-law procedure against Brussels, too, because what Brussels is doing to Hungary lacks any legal basis.' The rule-of-law procedure launched against Hungary 'severely discriminates against Hungarian university students, researchers and families', the minister said. 'Manfred Weber, Ursula von der Leyen and the Tisza Party that supports them are striving for power, and their goal is to erase Hungarian identity — but we won't allow it,' he added. Hankó, who took part in a conference on Hungary's child protection law in the European Parliament, said Europe's competitiveness was based on strong nations, which were based on strong families, having children, and higher education, research and innovation that 'answers real questions'. Hankó said the EU's infringement procedure against Hungary over its child protection law was based on an expectation that 'gender propaganda and sexual content should be let into Hungarian schools' and made accessible in the media to those under the age of 18. But, he added, Hungary would not comply because 3.5 million people expressed their opposition to 'gender propaganda' in a 2022 referendum. Hankó said it was good to see in Strasbourg that Hungary was not alone, with the MEPs of several other countries expressing their support for family protection and normality at the initiative of the Patriots for Europe group. Concerning the exclusion of Hungarian students from the Erasmus programme, the minister said he had held talks with the deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe because 'the EU's discrimination also concerns the students of the Council of Europe's 46 countries'. 'There are many researchers coming to Hungary from CoE countries, and they can't be excluded,' he added.
Budapest Times
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Budapest Times
Night of Museums to be held on June 21 and will feature 2,700 programs
Balázs Hankó, the culture and innovation minister, said on Wednesday that the Night of Museums will be held on June 21 and feature some 2,700 programs at 470 public locations. Last year, more than 330,000 visitors attended the event, Hankó said. 'The Night of Museums is a miracle when hundreds of thousands visit our museums in the whole Carpathian Basin.' 'Visiting museums is a program for young people, children, families and generations,' he said, where 'we experience all that makes us a nation, all that makes us Hungarians.' This year is special as programs of the memorial year marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of author Mor Jokai are also joining the event.
Budapest Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Hankó: Brussels sees sexual propaganda as more important than the protection of children
Balázs Hankó, the minister of culture and innovation, said in Luxembourg on Thursday that Brussels sees sexual propaganda as more important than the protection of children, 'but we don't agree with that.' Commenting on an opinion published by the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) saying that Hungary's child protection law infringed on EU law, Hankó said 'Brussels launched a lawsuit against Hungary because we … enshrined in the Fundamental Law our view that the protection of children is the top priority and we say no to continued gender activism in schools, kindergartens, the streets, public spaces and the media.' 'While the CJEU sees gender propaganda as a fundamental value of the EU, the Hungarian government sees the protection of families as a core value,' he said. 'The court is engaging all sorts of legal obstacles and legalese when it says that the benefits of media, advertising and electronic services are more important than the protection of our children,' Hankó said. Hungary's stance is clear, he said: the sexual education of children is in the hands of the parents, 'and gender activists and sexual propaganda has nothing to do with it. The lawsuit continues; we will continue to stand up for our children and families,' he said. Hanko insisted that 'Brussels and gender propaganda' had 'overtaken' the CJEU. He said Hungary was ready to 'shoulder the legal costs' of the 16 member states which earlier joined the EC lawsuit, 'because the protection of children comes before everything else'. 'The interference of Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission, the European Parliament manipulated by Manfred Weber, and the 16 states that joined [the lawsuit] will be in vain. We are ready to do everything in our power for our children and normality,' Hankó said. He said that normality meant 'that we can determine who we want to live with, that we say no to illegal migration, no to gender propaganda, and no to the fast-tracked EU integration of Ukraine, which are contrary to Hungarian socio-economic interests.'
Budapest Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Budapest Times
Hankó: Government values all Hungarian talent
Balázs Hankó, the minister for culture and innovation, said the Hungarian government values all Hungarian talent and is committed to running a talent management system that supports and improves Hungarian talent around the world. Speaking at the 'Talent's Talk 2025' event in Vienna, Minister Hankó said the government has allocated 400 million forints (EUR 990,000) for the next academic year's Stipendium Peregrinum scholarship scheme for Hungarian students who have applied to the world's best universities. Meanwhile, Minister Hankó said the Pannonia scholarship programme has given more than 3,000 young Hungarians the chance to gain experience at Europe's and the world's leading universities over the past semester. The government has also increased funding for young Hungarian researchers this year to 40 billion forints from 19 billion, the minister said. He noted that Hungary's aim is to have a university among the world's top 100 institutions by 2030, and for Hungary to be among the ten most innovative countries in the European Union.
Budapest Times
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Hankó: Brussels wants to erase our Judeo-Christian culture
Balázs Hankó, the minister for culture and innovation, said Brussels 'wants to erase Europe's roots, our Judeo-Christian culture'. In a speech at the CPAC Hungary 2025 conference in Budapest on Friday, the minister said Hungarian culture provides a national identity that transcends borders, and higher and vocational education guarantee knowledge, work and 'a mission in service of our communities'. He added that science and innovation were 'what determines our sovereignty', and families were the future. 'It is these cornerstones of our Christian national identity that Brussels is attacking and wants to distort,' Minister Hankó said, adding that Brussels wanted to 'make the discriminatory world of abnormality dominant over normality and order'. Minister Hankó said this was the explanation for Brussels's exclusion of university students and researchers who pushed back against its influence from international cooperation programs, and this was why Hungary was being punished for banning 'gender propaganda' from schools. Minister Hankó said those who were fighting for their nation and justice would never waver, adding that 'this is how we patriots are.'
