Viktor Orbán’s Shifting Allegiance to Imre Nagy

The power behind the politics of memory turns a once symbolic hero into a conforming communist

18 June 2019

June 16, 2019, marked the 30th anniversary of the reburial of Imre Nagy, the martyred prime minister of Hungary, who was executed following the 1956 revolution. The government of Viktor Orbán, who made his name as a young politician at the reburial, is now replacing the statue in a move that appears to be a culmination of a longer culture-war.

On June 16, 1989, a quarter of a million people turned up to attend the reburial of Imre Nagy as well as other executed leaders in Heroes Square, Budapest. Following older speakers, a 25-year-old Viktor Orbán gave a speech, in which he joined many others in demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

Viktor Orbán in 1989 calls on Soviet troops to leave the country.

Today, 33 years after the Hungarian revolution and 31 years after the execution of the last responsible Hungarian leader, we have a chance to achieve in a peaceful way all that was obtained through bloody fighting for the nation, if only for a few days.”

This speech is widely acknowledged as the beginning of the political career of Viktor Orbán.

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Károly Gergely

Hungarian freelance journalist at Magyar Hang and a reporter for The International Cybersecurity Dialogue. He completed a Russian and East European Studies master's at the University of Oxford and currently serves as a researcher and analyst.

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