Animal health is also a basic condition for the reliability of the food chain

(Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

The Minister said that veterinarians protect the welfare of animals and people at the same time, and play a key role in environmental protection, research, food safety and public health. István Nagy emphasized that safe and high-quality food can only be produced from healthy livestock, so it is no coincidence that the profession’s attention has increasingly turned to the safety of the food chain. As he said, in the globalized world and in the era of rapidly changing food production, the importance of animal health has become even more appreciated, and veterinary medicine is of national economic importance. The expertise of veterinarians is also a strategic resource: it contributes to the balance of foreign trade, economic growth and the strengthening of international relations, so the knowledge and resources invested in animal health pay off – he emphasized. He highlighted that the University of Veterinary Medicine is one of the oldest veterinary training institutions in Europe, which still maintains its domestic and international prestige today. The Minister of Agriculture pointed out that Hungarian higher education is at the forefront of the world, in the past decade, approximately 600 billion forints worth of development has been implemented in higher education, and in the coming years, an additional 1,300 billion forints will be allocated for this purpose.

According to István Nagy, it is of great significance that more and more young people are choosing agricultural training.

The number of applicants in this field has increased by nearly 30 percent. He also pointed out that the emergence of new diseases and pathogens requires continuous research and preparation. Scientific results help develop diagnostic methods and vaccines, and are incorporated into epidemic control measures. Therefore, the success of the latter depends not only on appropriate administrative decisions, but also on the integration of scientific and practical experience, he added. István Nagy said that the quality of veterinary training and research is an important standard, and the country met this standard when it successfully curbed the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in the spring, for which Hungarian animal health gained international recognition. The Minister also thanked the university management and students for their active participation in combating the epidemic.

Veronika Varga-Bajusz, State Secretary for Higher Education, Vocational and Adult Training, and Youth at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, said that a university is good if its students, lecturers, and researchers are proud of it, and the nation is proud of it

“A good university provides quality, value, backbone, and indicates performance, gives identity,” she said. He added that there are now 12 Hungarian universities in the world’s top 5 percent instead of the previous seven, “our universities are thriving, dynamic, have an identity, they have proud students and teachers, and our nation is rightly proud of them”. He said that there has been a “turning point in access” in higher education, as more than a hundred thousand people have been admitted to Hungarian higher education for the third year in a row, and the number of state scholarship places is also constantly increasing, this increase has been fifteen thousand since 2022. “We see the results, even though we have to stand in the mud in a huge headwind, a storm, the European Commission is fighting with all its strength, network, and informers and traitors settled here against competitive Hungarian universities,” the state secretary said. Veronika Varga-Bajusz mentioned that after the change in the higher education model, 6 out of 10 students were admitted to areas of national economic importance, the number of corporate revenues increased by 67 percent, the university’s publication output increased by 50 percent, and the number of patents increased by 35 percent in one year. Hungarian higher education is experiencing its second golden age – she emphasized, adding that 1,300 billion forints will be allocated to university development in the coming years, and the goal is to have a Hungarian university among the top hundred universities in the world and Europe by 2030.

Péter Sótonyi, the rector of the university, spoke about how the institution’s fundamental principles, which have been unwaveringly upheld for nearly two hundred and fifty years, have not changed

They train veterinarians who can stand their ground in any field of the veterinary profession. The university has undergone several significant developments in recent times, and the renewal process is not over yet; the reconstructed buildings “shine in their old glory again”, but the technological standards of the twenty-first century are already hidden within its walls – he emphasized. The rector greeted those who graduated 50, 60 and 65 years ago. As he said, they are living witnesses of an era when the profession required not only diligence, but also courage, character and sometimes civic courage. Their values ​​​​still set an example for young students today – he added. Péter Sótonyi said that the veterinary profession is not only a profession and acquired knowledge, but also a mission and a service. This is especially evident in times like the current one, when the foot-and-mouth disease virus has reappeared. “In this situation, the role of the veterinarian does not stop at the door of the surgery, as he is the one who observes, decides, directs, communicates under time and social pressure,” the rector added. He said that he was proud that the university’s senior students also actively participated in the epidemic control. Péter Sótonyi emphasized that the university is at the forefront of European veterinary education, which proves that their traditional educational model represents value in a rapidly changing world.

AM/MTI