October 23 – 1956 revolution commemorated at Hungary’s permanent UN mission

Hungary’s 1956 revolution was commemorated at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York late on Friday.

Miroslav Lajcak, President of the UN General Assembly for the 72nd session and Slovakia’s Foreign Minister, was guest of honour at the event, which was attended by deputy secretaries-general of the UN as well as renowned representatives of New York’s political and art scene.

Opening the ceremony, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Katalin Bogyay commemorated the one-time UN Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary, also greeting the current representatives of the committee’s one-time member countries. She went on to honour the memory of former Danish diplomat Povl Bang-Jensen, who died in mysterious circumstances. Bang-Jensen was a UN official who protected the Hungarian witnesses of the 1956 revolution and their families.

As one of the lessons from the revolution and freedom fight that took place 61 years ago, Bogyay emphasised the need for a strong and effective Security Council. She said

Hungary supports the comprehensive reform of the Security Council and noted the importance of the principle of the responsibility to protect.

She said “freedom is not a premise; it is something that must be protected at all times”, and the international community must pay attention to this especially in the case of religious, national and ethnic minorities. She said

the protection of ethnic, religious, racial and language freedoms is one of our most important duties today.

She also noted the importance of taking action against contemporary slavery and human trafficking.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI