Hungary, Poland presidents commemorate 1956 Poznan uprising – Photos – UPDATE

Poznan, June 28 (MTI) – Hungary’s President János Áder and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda held a joint press conference in western Poland’s Poznan on Tuesday, on the sidelines of commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the Poznan uprising.

Developments both in Hungary and in Poland in 1956 showed the weakness of the communist regime “built on lies and oppression” and foreshadowed its collapse, Áder said. The revolutionaries wanted “freedom, democracy, a better life,” he added.

Duda said that the 1956 events had even deepened the traditional friendship between Poles and Hungarians.

“The people of Poznan were the first to say no to communist rulers, to their propaganda, poverty and trampling on people’s dignity,” Duda said. Later on that year the Hungarians “followed the Polish example, they demanded freedom because they wanted to get rid of Soviet rule”, he added.

The two presidents then visited the Museum of the Poznan Uprising, and laid wreaths of commemoration at the monument of Katyn and Siberia victims.

Áder arrived in Poland at Duda’s invitation to attend state commemorations on Tuesday night.