Orbán cabinet, Jewish Congregation sign comprehensive pact

The government and the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation (EMIH) signed a comprehensive agreement in Budapest on Monday.

The document was signed by Zsolt Semjén, the deputy prime minister in charge of Hungarian communities abroad, church policy and national and ethnic minorities, and EMIH chief rabbi Slomó Köves at the Castle District premises of the Prime Minister’s Office.

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By signing the agreement, the Hungarian state acknowledges the historical traditions of the Jewish community and “EMIH’s service to the renaissance of Hungary’s Jewish community”, Semjén said at the signing ceremony.

The deputy PM noted that all three of Hungary’s Jewish congregations — the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary (Mazsihisz), the Hungarian Autonomous Orthodox Jewish Community (MAOIH) and EMIH — are recognised as religious communities “in the highest category”. He added that

signing separate agreements with the congregations also meant the highest form of recognition in a symbolic and financial sense.