Educational and Cultural Relations

The valuable and continuous relations on the educational and cultural levels are actually based on the cooperation agreement that was signed in 2003 between the Ministers of Culture of Hungary and Lebanon. The Hungarian Minister of Culture, István Hiller, visited Beirut in February 2004, to open the Al-Bustan Festival, which was dedicated to Hungary. This outstanding event, that lasted about 6 weeks, hosted Hungarian musicians and artists. Both the festival and the President’s visit to Lebanon on that year have enhanced the Hungarian presence on the Lebanese scene. There are also many Hungarian musicians within the Lebanese philharmonic orchestra.

The most specific element of the cultural bilateral relationship between the two countries is Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka, famous Hungarian painter, who lived for one and a half year in Lebanon, where he created some of his most famous paintings, among other "Baalbeck" and "The Solitary Cedar". In the Cedars forest, two commemorative plates remind of this famous artist, and are visited on a yearly basis by the Hungarian community in Lebanon; the Csontváry Day has become a traditional remembrance and meeting date.

The cooperation between the universities, as well as the participation of the AVICENNA foundation, have played an important role in enhancing the educational and scientific relations. Many Lebanese students are actually following their university studies in Hungary. In 2012 a new cooperation agreement between Kaslik University and Pázmány Péter University has been signed.