Speaking the journalists after the meeting of EU education ministers, Hanko said the Erasmus programme would be a sticking point "as long as Hungary has a patriotic government".

"As long as Hungary is not governed by Brusselite idiocy that exploits Hungarians and makes decisions in Brussels' interests, our priority will remain getting Erasmus and Horizon back," Hanko said.

Meanwhile, Pinter: National core curriculum to be reviewed in 2026

The National Core Curriculum (Nat) will be reviewed in 2026, Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said on Thursday at a parliamentary committee hearing.

Pinter said that under Hungary's public education law, the national early childhood education programme and experiences with the implementation of Nat must be evaluated regularly - at least every five years.

He noted that several of the original drafters of the curriculum, including literary historian Mihaly Takaro, have been selected for the review body.

Digital teaching materials, he said, would play an increasingly important role in the future.

He also stressed the importance of ensuring the authenticity of textbooks provided for national minorities, which would be regularly reviewed. Progress was being sought in high-quality, accurate textbook translations, with the help of artificial intelligence, he said.

Pinter stated that the government had met its promise to allow Klebelsberg training scholarship recipients to fulfil their contractual employment obligations not only in state-run but also in minority self-government educational institutions after graduation. Previously, this had not been possible under the relevant government decree, he said.

Regarding the centralisation of teacher training, he said that, in cooperation with the Educational Authority and the National University of Public Service, special attention was being given to national minority self-governments.

"I want to maintain and improve the quality of nursery and school-level minority training," the minister said, adding that the government aimed to support minority teacher training and increase the number of participants.

Pinter said significant progress had been made in creating opportunities for the Roma minority.

He noted that in 2025, the government allocated 2 billion forints to the National Roma Self-Government -- several times the previous level of support -- and an additional 270 million forints (EUR 707,000) for Roma civil organisations, cultural initiatives, and 100 million forints for infrastructure development.

Thanks to these measures and support, school dropout rates had fallen, and the number of Roma students graduating from secondary school had doubled, he said.

Hanko: Hungarian university students have right to Erasmus scholarships

Hungary will veto the adoption of the conclusions of the EU education ministers' council meeting in Brussels unless Hungarian university students are reinstated in the Erasmus scholarship programme, Balazs Hanko, the culture and innovation minister, said in a video posted on his Facebook page.

In the video, Hanko - currently in Strasbourg - spoke by phone with Janos Boka, the EU affairs minister, who was in Budapest.

Hanko said he would travel to Brussels on Friday for the education ministers' council meeting, where a vote on the education sector, including Erasmus scholarships, is scheduled.

The draft document states that 23 percent of university students should participate in Erasmus, and 350,000 non-European students should receive Erasmus scholarships.

Hanko noted that he consulted with the presidency of the Hungarian Rectors' Conference last week, and their position was clear: "We cannot accept this. If we are unjustly excluded from Erasmus, then they should not prescribe a 23 percent target. And if Hungarians are excluded, why should non-Europeans be included?"

Boka said this was "an issue that is making me lose my patience." He insisted that the decision to exclude Hungary was ostensibly made to protect the EU's financial interests, but neither Erasmus nor Horizon Europe was a programme where such concerns could legitimately arise.

He added that the measure was "clearly discriminatory and one-sided", as it barred Hungarian students from participating abroad while allowing foreign students to study in Hungary. 

"If we have any opportunity to expose this absurd situation and obvious abuse, we should do so," Boka said.

Hanko said he and Boka were in agreement: if the first point of the document up for vote in Brussels does not restore Erasmus for Hungarian students, "then I will veto it".

Boka said he fully concurred: "We must not assist in this legal outrage against us. We must not pretend everything is fine! ... We must use every political tool to rectify this serious injustice!"

Hanko added: "I will speak out and make it clear that Hungarian students are entitled to Erasmus. We won't accept any Erasmus or education strategy until the European Commission withdraws its clearly unjust, clearly politically motivated witch hunt."
 

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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