Hungarian national holiday marked in US and Poland

March 15 always carries a relevant message in the United States because Americans understand that Hungary is a freedom-loving country and that Hungarians have proven themselves to be freedom fighters throughout their history, Hungary’s ambassador to the US said, marking the national holiday in Washington on Wednesday.

US memorial

Speaking to MTI, Szabolcs Takács said Hungary always had to make it clear in the US that it was in its national interest that the war in Ukraine end as soon as possible.

Though “pro-war rhetoric is very strong in American public life”, more and more people, particularly conservatives, acknowledge that Hungary is a credible representative of peace efforts, Takacs said.

“They must understand that it is in our national interest that we have peace in our neighbourhood as soon as possible because that’s the only way we can guarantee the safety, prosperity and economic progress of Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin,” the ambassador said.

Hungary is committed to Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty, but expects it to respect the rights of national minorities, he said.

Takács on Wednesday laid a wreath at the statue of Hungarian 19th-century reform statesman Lajos Kossuth in the US Capitol Building before attending Kossuth Foundation’s wreath-laying ceremony at the Kossuth House in Washington.

The national holiday was also commemorated at a Hungarian citizenship oath ceremony in Chicago.

Péter Szilagyi, the deputy state secretary for policies for Hungarian communities abroad, said March 15 should be reminder for Hungarians to be “insistent on everything our ancestors fought for”.

“Those who choose to be Hungarian choose this heritage, and can be proud of it,” Szilágyi said.

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Hungarian national holiday in Poland

Hungary’s March 15 national holiday commemorating the 1848-49 revolution and freedom fight was marked in Poland with an award ceremony, a panel discussion and an academic competition on Wednesday.

At a ceremony in Warsaw, Orsolya Zsuzsanna Kovács, Hungary’s ambassador to Poland, was presented with an award in recognition of her efforts to promote Polish-Hungarian partnership.

In Wroclaw, in western Poland, a panel discussion was held on the revolutions of 1848 with the participation of Hungarian, Polish and German experts. The event was organised by the local Hungarian and German diplomatic missions, the Polish-Hungarian Association of Wroclaw and the Liszt Institute of Warsaw.

Around 2,200 students from 315 secondary schools participated in a nationwide academic competition on the history of Polish-Hungarian relations.

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Source: MTI