March 15 – National flag hoisted by Parliament

The national flag was hoisted in front of Parliament on Friday morning, marking the start of state celebrations of the anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Habsburg revolution that started on March 15, 1848.

The ceremony was attended by President János Áder, House Speaker László Kövér, representatives of state organisations, diplomats, and several hundred others.

Following the ceremony, participants marched to the National Museum where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is scheduled to deliver a speech. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will also address the event.

Commemorations of the revolution are also being held nationwide and by ethnic Hungarian communities around the world.

The revolution and freedom fight was part of a series of uprisings in Europe in 1848. On March 15, citizens of Pest gathered in front of the National Museum and demanded independence from Habsburg rule.

Hungary’s first independent government with Count Lajos Batthyány as prime minister approved a reform package called the April laws. Later, the uprising grew into a war of independence, stifled by Austria and Russia in late 1849.

Source: MTI