Deputy PM Semjen Pays Tribute to WWI Hungarian Soldiers in North-Eastern Italy

Doberdo, NE Italy, November 4 (MTI) – Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén and his delegation laid wreaths at three former front sites in north-eastern Italy to pay tribute to Hungarian soldiers who died there in WWI.

Tuesday’s visit was the last in a series of Hungarian commemorations throughout the year, marking the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the war.

At the Hungarian Chapel near the former front site of Doberdo, Semjen announced the Hungarian government’s plan to turn the site into a national pilgrimage destination. The government will provide all possible support to the project including funding, he added.

He noted that about 10,000 were buried in the area around the chapel.

Semjén and the delegation next paid tribute to the 150,000 fallen Hungarian soldiers at the cross erected on the hill of Saint Michael.

They then laid wreaths in the military cemetery at Redipuglia where 14,550 Hungarian soldiers were buried, most of them in mass graves.

Some 650,000 Hungarian soldiers died during WWI; 200,000 of them fell at Italian fronts, Semjén said.

Photo: MTI – Miklós Váli

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters