Ader marks late PM Antall’s 20th death anniversary

Budapest, December 12 (MTI) – President Janos Ader paid tribute to late Prime Minister Jozsef Antall on Thursday, at a ceremony marking Antall’s 20th death anniversary.

At the ceremony, held in Budapest’s National Cemetery, Ader laid a wreath on the tomb of Antall, Hungary’s first freely elected premier after the fall of the communist regime.

Antall, a teacher and historian, was a founder of the Hungarian Democratic Forum, a central force in the country’s political regime change, and a key figure in the Opposition Roundtable.

During his premiership between 1990-93, Hungary became an associate member of the European Union and a member of the Council of Europe, and joined several other European institutions.

Antall was an advocate of modern, national conservatism, his motto being “to serve as long as the nation benefits from my services”.

Parliament will hold a memorial session on Friday, attended by House Speaker Laszlo Kover, Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia Bernhard Vogel.

Photo: MTI – Tamás Kovács

Source: http://hungarymatters.hu/