President Tamás Sulyok said there is every reason to believe that Hungarian science has a glorious future.

The MTA is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its foundation, and in his speech in the renovated Ceremonial Hall of the Academy's headquarters, President Sulyok said that the founder of the MTA, István Széchenyi, had embraced the cause of the entire nation. Many in the 18th century embraced the idea of establishing a learned society and elevating the Hungarian language in the Carpathian Basin, he added.

In the past two centuries, "great Hungarian inventions and creations that amaze the world" emerged one after another, he said, referring to innovations from the invention of the match to the latest attosecond device in laser physics.

The president also mentioned the numerous top prizes that Hungarian scientists have been awarded around the world.

Balázs Hankó, the culture and innovation minister, said that the Hungarian scientific community had come about 200 years ago thanks to the responsible leadership's "commitment to the Hungarian nation's desire for freedom".

He said there was not a single field of science that Hungarian scientists and innovators had not raised to a higher level.

"The Hungarian Academy of Sciences has played a decisive role over the past 200 years ... and it will continue to do so," he said.

The minister added that the primary task of the MTA today was to "strengthen our self-determination for the sake of our nation".