Tamás Gergely Kucsera, chairman of the Kommentár Foundation, which is organising the event, said about a thousand people between the ages of 20 and 40 were expected to participate at Tranzit, which he compared to a summer university.
Most of the participants already have experience as opinion-shapers or members of youth organizations - mainly church-based ? in Hungary or in regions with ethnic Hungarian populations outside of the country?s borders. Some use ?underground? media for their message, some are bloggers and some are journalists.
 
More than a hundred presentations, seminars and talks on the most important political, economic and social questions facing Hungary and Europe will take place during Tranzit. Among the topics on the agenda are Hungary?s economic policy, the restructuring of the system of higher education, the assessment of Hungary in the Western press, the success of the younger generation in Hungary and the future of the European Union.
 
Human Resources Minister Zoltán Balog will open Tranzit on August 22. The minister is one of many important figures of Hungarian politics, economy and education to participate at the event, including chief executive of the Budapest Public Transport Centre Dávid Vitézy and Foreign Ministry state secretary Zsolt Németh. Csaba Tabajdi, chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party?s European Parliament delegation, will speak on whether Europe is headed toward unity or disintegration. Defense Minister Csaba Hende, National Public Service University rector András Patyi and Pázmány Péter Catholic University teacher Ferenc Horkay Hörcher will speak about instruction in the military, past and present. Public Administration and Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics, Hungarian Residents Association chairman Magor Papp and vintner Nimród Kovács will address the reasons for the emigration of some of Hungary?s labour force and seek to answer the question whether it is better to leave the country or return. Gergely Gulyás, and MP of governing Fidesz, and opposition MP András Schiffer, of LMP, will speak at a presentation entitled ?Our Unexplored Agents?.
 
Antal Rogán, Fidesz parliamentary group leader, will speak with the economist László Csaba and CEO of telco Invitel György Zsembery on the economic outlook for Hungary and Europe. State secretary for culture László L. Simon, head of the Corvinus University Institute for Political Science András Lánczi and Hungarian Socialist Party MP István Hiller will discuss cultural values.
 
State secretary for education Rózsa Hoffmann and chairman of the Hungarian Rectors Convention Barna Mezey will assess Hungary?s policy for higher education over the past two years.
 
Tranzit will close with a talk on public life by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
 
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)