The youngest European Szekler brand
At the presentation entitled “The youngest European Szekler brand”, Szabolcs Fazakas presented the project called Transylvanian Legendarium, which is very popular. According to the speaker, he has been interested in legends and histories since his childhood. “The task of the legendarium is to introduce the legends from Szeklerland.” The project was launched eight years ago and it has been permanently expanded with new project series. “We have received much external help”. Collecting the legends was a long process; today we keep record of 156 legends. At the beginning there was a map but it has been gradually expanded since board games, books and memory games can be found as well on the market. They provide audio books for blind children. “We sold 3500 books and they are permanently required.” At the beginning the project was financed also by the county and city council.
“We employ sixteen young people; we send the cartoon team to Budapest. We work with serious professionals because we consider quality important.” The aim of making cartoons is mainly to present to foreigners the legends of Szeklerland that will be later translated into several other languages.
Following gradual development, the project has led to future plans that include the opening of a cartoon studio and a miniature Transylvanian park. The miniature Transylvanian park project is “an installation where almost fifty buildings will be presented in miniature.” Its aim is to increase tourism and offer children possibility for entertainment. At the end of the presentation the participants of the EU Camp could get a taste of those legendary stories that later on will be presented in Transylvania and in the wide world.
Europe needs new guidelines
Barbara Hegedűs, vice-president of Fidelitas for foreign affairs and Sarolta Borzási, member of MIÉRT’s cabinet for foreign affairs talked about Europe’s new guidelines on the second day of the EU Camp. Barbara Hegedűs and Sarolta Borzási discussed the situation of the youth from Europe and Carpathian Basin from the perspective of YEPP, Europe’s largest youth organization.
Currently, there are three main issues within YEPP – we found out from the presentation. They told that the radicalization of the youth, the identity crisis of the European youth and the unemployment are the problematic spots of the continent. These issues are further complicated by the political situation. In particular, the immigration issue attracted great attention especially related to the European consideration of Hungary’s measures. Europe needs new guidelines, they emphasised at the last YEPP Council Meeting held in Bucharest.
Barbara Hegedűs considers that the main priority of the umbrella organization is the problem of addressing and supporting the youth. Thus, they arrived to the next train of thought, that is, the wider use of Erasmus+. Both MIÉRT and Fidelitas aim at keeping young people in the country on a long term. In the conclusion of the presentation clearly appears the maximum support of young people in gaining experience.
Everyone has their own way
“Everyone has their own way” was the title of the first presentation in Friday afternoon in the EU Camp. Sándor Tamás, president of Covasna County Council and Ferenc Péter, president in Mureş county, talked to the campers about the challenges of the position.
In the presentation the speakers reflected, among others, on the differences that lie in the work of the two council presidencies. Ferenc Péter said that in Mureş county they would like to place emphasis on keeping people in the country. “How can we help so that people would stay in the country?”– he asked related to the topic of the presentation. “We have to support setting up businesses in Mureş county that encourage staying and living in the homeland”- said. Given that every county has its characteristics, related to the features of Mureş county, he explained that in their case it is important that they manage address all bases, that their plans could address Hungarian, Romanian block region and mixed parts as well.
Sándor Tamás, president of Covasna County Council, said that the best people for working in local government are those with good strategies and good organizational skills and during the elections “first of all we have to deal with people and not the rivals”. According to the leader, the ideal politician is not afraid of monotony, has nerves of steel and it is at least as important that he speaks foreign languages besides Romanian and Hungarian. When he stated that in his opinion a really good politician “becomes stronger and does not get softer under shock” he mentioned the example of Árpád Antal, mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe and Róbert Ráduly, mayor of Miercurea Ciuc. The audience also shared their opinion related to the topic. To the question what the ideal Hungarian Transylvanian politician looks like, they mentioned the following: competent, reliable, righteous, humble and perseverant.
Related to the topic of the participation of young people in public life he added: “In a society public thinking is always determined by young people and women”. In his opinion there is a need for change, and this change has to be carried out by levels and gradually. “In a society the shift can appear only by levels. New world can only be created with a new generation”– said the leader from Scaunul Odorhei.
Lóránd András held in the Taboo corner a presentation entitled “Gypsying”
The presentation series ended on Friday evening with a TABOO topic where Lóránd András shared his personal experiences with the audience. His aim was to draw attention to the problems of gypsies that must be resolved.
Lóránd András was born in Miercurea Ciuc. Both his parents are of gypsy origin and he currently lives in Odorheiu Secuiesc. At school he was often criticized which destroyed his self-confidence and he was called names such as “black cube”, “I was the stinky gypsy”. And yet, he was able to rise above these circumstances and today he has his own family. He seeks solutions to the problems of the gypsies; therefore, for one year he has been participating in a gypsy project where they try to improve their situation.
After sharing personal experiences, he involved also his audience in his presentation when they could share their positive or negative memories related to gypsies. There are persons among the EU campers who are afraid of them because they were victims of theft, but there are also people who have close relationship with them.
We could draw the conclusion from the dialogues that the gypsy minority has to get rid of the traditional lifestyle, thus, parents must support their children to continue their studies, to reach their goals. In Lóránd András’s opinion “the first step must be taken by the majority society.”
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