The role of the state in the development of relations was very significant. The signing of the Finnish-Hungarian Cultural Agreement in 1937 was a pioneering gesture in the cultural diplomacy of both countries. The action plans of the 1959 Hungarian-Finnish Agreement on Cultural, Educational and Scientific Co-operation (renewed in 1995) determined cooperation in a number of areas. The action plan was not renewed by the parties in 2013 (due to the membership of both countries in the European Union), thus cooperation based on the activities of partner organizations, associations and institutions have been given a greater role.
The Hungarian Cultural and Scientific Center in Helsinki (Balassi Institute of Helsinki), founded in 1980, plays an important role in the development of cultural relations. Located within easy reach of downtown Helsinki, the institute's multifunctional lecturer-exhibition space hosts fine art exhibitions, chamber concerts, literary evenings, lectures, seminars and film screenings. The institute, in cooperation with Finnish and Hungarian partners, organizes cultural events in major cities and at big festivals in Finland and participates in the implementation of more than a hundred programs each year. FinnAgora in Budapest also works on developing cultural relations between the two countries.
The Finnish-Hungarian scientific relations have a rich history, and the initial Finno-Ugric linguistic and philological co-operation has expanded considerably, including the latest state-of-the-art cell biology and information technology research. Traditionally, universities where Hungarian and Finnish languages and cultures can be studied have a prominent role in partner university relationships. Such partner universities are ELTE and the University of Helsinki, the University of Szeged and the University of Turku, as well as the University of Debrecen and the University of Jyväskylä. The scholarships for higher education and research mobility between the two countries are announced by the Hungarian Tempus Office and the Finnish CIMO.
