Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog and Swedish Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag presented this year's Wallenberg Awards at Budapest's Holocaust Memorial Centre on Thursday.
This year's Wallenberg Award winners include the local government of Baks in southern Hungary, documentary filmmaker Kriszta Bódis, and Gábor Gordon, President of the March of the Living Foundation.
At the ceremony, Minister Balog called for a joint effort to fight dictatorial behaviour and stated that democracy was not defined by the number of parties in Parliament, but by the behaviour of democrats in that country. He said, "Politicians should learn democracy from the award winners".
Balog talked about the importance of commemorating people who had helped the victims of dictatorships so that those atrocities should never occur again.
The Swedish minister also called for remembrance and for "paying tribute to all victims". Swedish Minister Ullenhag said his Government was committed to fighting xenophobia and any other form of intolerance, adding that the Swedish Government has allocated 50 million Swedish crowns to improving the situation of the country's Roma minority.
The ministers also held a bilateral meeting at the Holocaust Memorial Center, where Minister Balog informed his colleague about the Hungarian Government’s achievements in the field of Roma integration, and gave a general picture of the current issues regarding the economy and higher education. He emphasised that the most important point in the Government’s integration strategy is strengthening coexistence within society. Minister Ullenhag acknowledged Hungary's achievements, stating that Sweden seeks cooperation with Hungary on every issue in which both nations can work side-by-side.
(Ministry of Human Resources)
