Varga said it was an honour for her to give her first speech of the year in front of her “Szekler brethren”.

The Szeklers of Siculeni were defending their sovereignty and identity, the minister said, adding that though the world had changed a lot since then, “defending Hungarian constitutional identity and sovereignty remains our everyday responsibility to this day”.

“Whether it be the rule of law or the joint European Union decisions concerning energy security, we must always defend our right to have the final say on issues that determine the fate of our nation,” Varga said.

She added that in Hungary’s experience as an EU member, “Hungarians always ended up being right about the important issues”.

What matters most to the Hungarian government is for the Hungarian community in Transylvania to be able to preserve its Hungarian identity, the minister said.

“You are the ones who have to preserve the thousand-year Hungarian history and culture and ensure the future of the Transylvanian Hungarian community,” she said.

“It’s not an easy task, but God always gives the hardest battles to the best warriors.” Concerning the war in Ukraine, Varga said Hungarians wanted peace, emphasising the need for central European countries to find common ground and room for cooperation.

On January 7, 1765, the troops of Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, retaliated a protest by some 2,500 Szeklers who refused to serve in the Austrian army under command in German.

MTI Photo: Nándor Veres