Balog discusses Russia returning art objects to Hungary

Moscow (MTI) – The return of art objects from Russia to Hungary was discussed at talks between Human Resources Minister Zoltan Balog and Russia’s Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky on Monday.

The meeting was held on the occasion of Hungary launching a cultural festival in five Russian cities.

Balog said Medinsky gave a positive response to the Hungarian proposal affecting books from the time of the Reformation that were taken to Russia from the library of the Reformed College of Sarospatak during WW2. Additionally, many old lithurgical objects of the Hungarian Jewish community are still in Russia and Balog said he also expects progress in ongoing talks about their return.

He added that he met Russia’s Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov and discussed granting 200 scholarships to students in each others’ countries. They also talked about jointly setting up international training centres in Hungary to boost training in fields related to nuclear energy, with a focus on transferring the know-how from nuclear power stations based on the Russian system.

At talks with Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova, the situation in the Russian drugs market and joint action against counterfeit drugs were discussed. Balog said that Russia is currently replacing international drugs with locally manufactured products and this threatens the long-standing good market position of Hungarian drugmakers. Skvortsova promised that she would support efforts towards helping Hungarian companies preserve their position, he added.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters