Esztergom (MTI) – Two memorials commemorating WWI and WWII victims were unveiled at the site of a former cemetery in Esztergom, in northern Hungary, on Friday.
The WWI memorial, a statue depicting the Angel of Peace, is dedicated to the about 3,500 Italian, Romanian, Russian and Serbian prisoners of war who died in a camp set up just outside the city between 1914 and 1918.
Mikhail Lavrenenko, president of the Russian foundation for peace that donated the statue to Esztergom, said that the memorial would be instrumental “in saying no in today’s world to any military conflict no matter of its size”.
The other memorial, reconstructed by the municipality and a local cultural organisation, commemorates Soviet troops who died during WWII in battles in and around Esztergom.
Addressing the unveiling ceremony, Russian Ambassador Vladimir Sergeev read a letter by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said that “real security can only exist on equal grounds, without any discrimination, on the basis of international law and the UN Charter. This is what Russia’s foreign policy will continue to be based on.”
The Russian ambassador as well as representatives of the Azerbaijani, Belarusian and Kazakh embassies, and Hungary’s defence ministry laid wreaths at the memorial.
Photo: MTI
Source: MTI
