Hungarian political leaders, parties to mark March 15 national holiday

Budapest, March 14 (MTI) – Hungary’s political parties and leaders will organise and attend commemorative events marking the anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Habsburg revolution of 1848-49 on Wednesday.

Commemorations will begin with the hoisting of the national flag in front of Parliament with military honours at 9am.

Following the ceremony, a state celebration will begin at 10.30am in the garden of the National Museum where Prime Minister Viktor Orban will deliver a speech.

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén will attend commemorations organised by the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians in Vojvodina, northern Serbia.

The opposition Socialist Party is set to begin their commemorations on Tuesday in Miskolc, in northern Hungary. The party’s national board will hold a meeting, which will be followed by a commemorative gathering. The event will close with a torch-lit march. On Wednesday, the party’s Free Press Foundation award will be presented.

The opposition Jobbik will hold its commemoration event at the statue of Sándor Petőfi, the 1848-49 revolutionary poet, on Budapest’s central March 15 Square. Party leader Gábor Vona, deputy leaders Dániel Z Kárpát and Erik Fülöp along with lawyer Andrea Varga-Damm are all scheduled to address the event.

Members of opposition LMP will gather at Budapest’s Pilvax Cafe, a historic scene during the revolution. Their event will be addressed by the party’s two co-leaders, Bernadett Szél and Ákos Hadházy.

The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition will hold its commemoration in front of the Pilvax Cafe where party leader Ferenc Gyurcsány will give a speech.

The Hungarian Liberal Party, the Dialogue Party and Együtt will also hold their own separate commemorations.

Source: MTI