Hungarian cultural season to mark 1956, diplomatic ties in Ukraine

Kiev (MTI) – Several Hungarian cultural programmes will be organised in Ukraine over the next months to mark two major anniversaries, the Hungarian ambassador said in Kiev on Friday.

The 60th anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution will be marked with three events next month, Ernő Keskeny told a press conference.

The embassy will host a roundtable discussion with historians including former Hungarian foreign minister Géza Jeszenszky about the revolution, he said.

Further events marking the anniversary will include an exhibition presenting documents and photos from Ukrainian archives at the embassy and a film festival, Keskeny said.

Yehven Nyshchuk, Ukraine’s cultural minister, has accepted to be the patron of these events, he said.

The 25th anniversary of Ukrainian-Hungarian diplomatic relations will also be commemorated with several events, the ambassador said, noting that Hungary was one of the first to recognise Ukraine’s independence on December 3, 1991 and the first one to open an embassy there.

Events in September include the Ukrainian premiere of György Ligeti’s violin concerto in Kiev next Thursday and a film festival commemorating the WWII Babi Yar massacre at the end of the month. At the festival Hungary’s 2016 Oscar-winning Holocaust drama Son of Saul by László Nemes Jeles will be screened.

On Oct. 22, a concert will be hosted by the National Philharmonic of Kiev to mark the 205th birth anniversary of Ferenc Liszt.

Source: MTI