Commentary
Politics
EU Should Enlarge, Even Out of Despair – COMMENTARY
3 October 2024
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.
“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.