Best of Hungary

Exploring Opportunities and Innovation in Budapest with Team Yellow

Our journey with Team Yellow took off from Brussels with excitement, ready to explore how Hungary’s EU membership fuels growth and opportunity. Sleepy-eyed but full of anticipation, the influencers embarked on what promised to be an unforgettable adventure.

Unveiling Workforce Mobility

The first stop was an insightful session with Niels Otto Pedersen, founder of StudyAbroad. For nearly two decades, this organization has connected students from Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia with educational opportunities across Europe. The influencers learned how EU membership has opened doors for seamless student and labor mobility, creating networks that cross borders and nurture both academic and professional growth. These initiatives reflect the EU’s broader vision for educational collaboration, embodied in the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans

and the NextGenEU programme. The insights from Niels underscored the transformative power of accessible education and workforce integration.

A Unique Sporting Legacy

The journey continued with an introduction to a sport that Hungary gave to the world: teqball. The team headed to FITEQ, the International Federation of Teqball, for an interactive experience showcasing this modern sport, which has captured global interest since its invention in 2014. Here, the influencers witnessed how EU support has helped develop Hungary’s sports infrastructure. They even had the chance to try their hand at teqball, guided by world champions who demonstrated the game’s full potential.

Lessons for the Western Balkans

From the impact of workforce mobility initiatives to the success of sports development projects funded by the EU, Hungary’s experience provided powerful lessons. These examples illustrated how the NextGenEU and Growth Plan can be leveraged to support similar aspirations in the Western Balkans, from educational reforms to nurturing sports culture and community growth.

A Takeaway to Remember

Team Yellow’s time in Budapest showed that Opportunities Are Made of Us, whether through boosting academic paths or championing innovative sports. This journey was a testament to the potential that EU-backed initiatives hold for communities everywhere.