With 500 programmes and PM Orbán’s keynote speech the 34th Bálványos Summer University and Festival in C Romania is ready to kick off

Bálványos Summer University and Festival
Photo: FB/Tusványos

This year’s Bálványos Summer University in Baile Tusnad (Tusnádfürdő) in Romania is running under the motto “Count on us!”, Fidesz lawmaker Zsolt Németh, one of the event’s founders and the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said on Wednesday.

Lots of leading politicians will attend the festival

Németh told a press conference that the 34th summer university will run between July 22 and 27. “The coolest free university and the most thought-provoking festival” will feature 500 programmes at 40 venues, with nearly 1,000 speakers, he said. The motto is designed to convey humanity, reliability and predictability in a difficult economic, social and political situation, he said.

The conference is drawing “particularly strong international attendance” this year, Németh said. Guests will include former Australian prime minister Tony Abbot, former Slovenian PM Janez Jansa and chief Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost. Guests are also expected from Lebanon, Cambodia, Venezuela, Poland and Germany, he said.

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Orbán will speak on Saturday

Németh said “the winds of the Hungarian election campaign are strong”, with the event set to include a roundtable on Hungarian party politics. In line with the conference’s traditions, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will speak on Saturday, he added. “Almost half of the Hungarian cabinet will also attend — we now know of 7 ministers,” he said.

orbán tusványos
Orbán speaking at the Tusványos festival last year. Photo: Facebook/Orbán Viktor

New panel discussions will focus on Hungarians living with disabilities and the development of Roma communities; “the Danube Institute will present a rich array of programmes looking at the entire Carpathian Basin,” he said.

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Culture, sports and leisure activities

Another focus will be national cohesion; besides a large number of Transylvanian visitors, all Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin will be represented, Nemeth said.

Culture, sports and leisure activities will also be important, with a theatre tent, folk and pop music offered by performers such as folk artists András Berecz and Márta Sebestyén and popular musicians such as Tankcsapda, Margaret Island, Neoton, Republic and Magdi Rúzsa, Németh said.

The website, named after the event’s popular nickname (Tusványos), is being continuously updated with relevant information, organisers said. Check out the event’s Facebook page HERE.

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