On 21 October, Her Excellency Orsolya Szijjártó, the Ambassador of Hungary, hosted a reception on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1956 Revolution.
The recently appointed Ambassador of Hungary gave an insight to the historic happenings of the revolution and its consequences: after the revolution around 200,000 Hungarians left the country, of which approximately 3,500 found shelter in the Netherlands. The Ambassador expressed her gratitude to all the people who have helped and welcomed the former Hungarian refugees in those difficult times.
2014 is the year that Hungary celebrates her 10th anniversary of accession to the European Union. “The accession made the dream of Hungarians come true, as what we had been fighting for had been achieved: Hungary became a full member of the European community, a part of Europe, as this is where we belong to, both culturally and historically”, the Ambassador said.
Many examples of Dutch solidarity were listed by Her Excellency in her speech, among others the renaming of the Stalinlaan (Stalin Avenue) in Amsterdam to Vrijheidslaan (Freedom Avenue) to show respect towards the Hungarian’s quest and the 3 minutes of silence held in the Netherlands in order to express sympathy with the Hungarian revolution. The Ambassador concluded that 23rd of October has a symbolic value since two historic events are celebrated: in 1956 this was the day on which the revolution broke out, and on the same day in 1989, the eventual completion of the goals and dreams of the revolution came true: the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed.
Following her opening speech, Ambassador Orsolya Szijjártó presented the Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit awarded to Mr Jan Pezie by the President of Hungary. Mr Pezie, a retired pharmacist received the decoration in recognition of his charitable work as organizer of the insulin aid campaign in Hungary and Transylvania in 1989.
