MEP Istvan Ujhelyi

“Better late than never” was the first reaction of MEP Istvan Ujhelyi after receiving confirmation from the Hungarian government that Hungary would have a permanent diplomatic representation through the setting up of a consulate in Valletta.

The Hungarian socialist politician has been pursuing the Hungarian government for many months now to have permanent representation in Malta, given the huge number of Hungarians living and working in Malta.

“As an MEP I have held several forums for Malta-based Hungarians, where – beside the very positive opinions about Malta and the Maltese people – the lack of the permanent official Hungarian representation has been regularly raised. It was really unacceptable that at the time of the Hungarian national elections in May this year, those Hungarian citizens who wanted to vote had to travel to the consulate in Rome or in Tunisia. The new representation will help increase cooperation between our two countries and bring us all even closer,” the MEP said.

The socialist member of the European Parliament welcomed the fact that from autumn 2018 one permanent chief diplomat will represent Hungary in Malta, under the supervision of the Hungarian Embassy in Rome.

This decision was conveyed through a letter, to MEP Ujhelyi by Csaba Balogh, Secretary of State for Administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It wasn’t the first success for Ujhelyi: after his tireless lobbying, the Orban government decided to open a permanent consulate this year also in Manchester and Edinburgh.

“Nevertheless, I think it is still essential for the government to deal with the problem of emigration; more than 600,000 young Hungarians have left the country to start a new life in another country. We need to know them, help them, support them and try to help them return to Hungary if they so wish. The first step was to establish the permanent representation where it is needed. This gives Hungarian citizens the comfort that they are not on their own,” Mr Ujhelyi said.