Hungarian politicians mark day of communism victims

Photos: MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt

“Suffering caused by communism and heroic defiance against dictatorship is a part of our national identity,” Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said marking Hungary’s day of the victims of communist dictatorships in a video posted on Facebook on Thursday.

Gulyás said the February 25 memorial day was an occasion to pay tribute to hundreds of thousands of Hungarians and “over 100 million people murdered in communist regimes worldwide”.

“Today’s free Hungary is thanks to their heroism, their sacrifice,” he added.

“There cannot be a compromise with those seeking excuses for the crimes of communism and the perpetrators of those crimes,” he said, adding that “there will be no compromise with those constantly worried about freedom, even though they used to be collaborators in a dictatorship of mass murderers”.

Justice Minister Judit Varga also marked the memorial day of the victims of communism.

In a bilingual Facebook post, Varga hailed those who had suffered under communist dictatorship as Hungarians who “built our current independence and freedom through personal sacrifice”.

“We remember them, the victims of communism!” she added.

Hungary’s parliament declared February 25 the memorial day of the victims of communist dictatorships in 2000, to commemorate Béla Kovács, head of the Independent Smallholders’ Party, who was arrested on that day in 1947 and later deported to the Soviet Union.

Budapest mayor pays tribute to victims of communism

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony on Thursday marked the memorial day of the victims of communism, paying tribute to those who had suffered or died under communist dictatorships.

“The murderous dictatorship took away the lives of millions, including my great-grandfather,” Karácsony said on Facebook.