IT’S A SUNNY, WARM DAY IN LATE SUMMER. A BRAND-new, purpose-built kindergarten and nursery school is awaiting its official opening. Smiling small children line up, gently marshalled by quietly-spoken female teachers. Boys and girls are resplendent in impeccably laundered and fitted folk costume: white frilly-sleeved shirting and red-and-green waistcoats and skirts.
People gather to listen to the children singing, and to the town and Catholic church dignitaries making stirring speeches to mark the opening of this new educational establishment, the Angyalkert (Angel Garden), a free school for 180 children.
Banners and signage festooned with the green, white and red national flag, alongside the arms of state topped with its emblem of the Holy Crown of Hungary, indicate that the main source of funding for this state-of-the-art building — 850 million Hungarian forint (around £2 million) — is from the verbosely-titled Prime Minister’s Office State Secretariat for National Policy.
Except that this is not Hungary. By road, the nearest point in Hungary to the Angel Garden is no less than 260 miles away,
