Lászlo Kövér, Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly, opened the meeting of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension (PD), held in Budapest on 24 April 2013. The meeting was chaired by Richárd Hörcsik, President of the CEI PD and head of the Hungarian Delegation to the CEI PD.
Delegations from the Parliaments of CEI countries discussed the topic “Diversity provided creativity for the economic growth of our region”. All participants recognised that cultural diversity in the CEI region is an asset and that creative economy and innovation are key factors to overcome the global crisis. Active participation and coordinated efforts at various levels of society – involving governmental, business and NGOs dimensions – are essential elements of this process.
“For some people the global crises serve as an excuse for being inactive. On the other hand, other people look for, and very often do find, new opportunities that the crises times bring long” declared Zoran Jovanovic, CEI Deputy Secretary General, underlining the great potential of the CEI region in terms of diversity and creativity.
A Resolution was unanimously adopted at the end of the meeting.
The following day, on 25 April 2013, the CEI PD General Committee on Cultural Affairs was organised in Bonyhàd-Kalocsa on the topic "Initiatives to Sustain Linguistic and Cultural Identities". The meeting was co-chaired by Árpad János Potápi, Mayor of Bonyhàd and member of the Hungarian Delegation and Senator Aldo Di Biagio, member of the Italian Delegation. The meeting offered the opportunity to present national minority self-governments in Hungary – the local and nationals self-government of Germans. Moreover, an analysis of the CEI Instrument for the Protection of Minority Rights was presented by Norbert Tóth, researcher at the Research Institute on Hungarian Communities Abroad in Budapest. Following the proposal of the Hungarian delegation, participants agreed upon the need to update the book on “Minorities and the Central European Initiative” elaborated on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the CEI Instrument (1994-2004).