Honourable Deputy Speaker of the Swedish Parliament Ms Åsa Lindestam,
Dear Foreign State Secretary Robert Rydberg,
Excellences,
Dear Guests,
Tisztelt Magyarok!
Tonight is special. We commemorate the 1956 Hungarian Revolution but at the same time celebrate 100 years of Hungarian-Swedish diplomatic relations: friendship and close cooperation between our States and people.
I am pleased to welcome many good partners and friends and the representatives of the Hungarian diaspora. We are grateful that you are with us.
Szeretettel üdvözölöm a magyar honfitársakat az 1956. október 23-a előtt tisztelgő nemzeti ünnepi koncertünkön. 1956. október 23-a nekünk magyaroknak a szabadság, a függetlenség, az önrendelkezés vágyát jelenti. Ma azokra emlékezünk, akik ‘56. októberében vissza akarták venni azt, ami a legdrágább volt nekik: az országukat, Magyarországot. A magyarok nem akartak semmi mást, mint hogy saját országukban saját maguk lehessenek, a saját céljaik szerint élhessenek. Nem félelemben és elnyomásban, nem diktátumokkal, rendszeridegennek kikiáltva, hanem szabadon, saját választásuk és döntéseik szerint. Többen vannak itt ma velünk, akik maguk is ezért küzdöttek 1956 októberében Budapest utcáin. Akartak valamit, amire aztán egészen 1989-ig kellett várni. Külön köszöntöm őket!
Az idei évi megemlékezésünk különleges, mert ma a magyar-svéd diplomáciai kapcsolatok 100. évfordulóját is ünnepeljük. A magyar kormány 1920 februárjában kezdeményezte Stockholmban a diplomáciai kapcsolatok felvételét, amit Svédország 1920. november 12-én igazolt vissza. Az elmúlt 100 évben Európa és országaink is sok mindent megéltek. Az elmúlt 100 évet ismerik nagyszüleink, szüleink, ismerjük mi és ismerik a gyermekeink, unokáink, dédunokáink. Hosszú út vezetett idáig, hogy megelégedéssel és örömmel kimondjuk, mindkét ország a demokratikus európai országok közösségébe tartozik, ahol erős önrendelkezés mellett polgáraink maguk döntenek sorsukról, de ahol egyben szorosan együttműködünk és együtt dolgozunk annak érdekében, hogy stabil, békés és virágzó jövőt építsünk. Meggyőződésem, hogy ezek nem csupán szavak, hanem a szavak mély értelme szerint az egyértelmű, közös célunk. Engedjék meg, hogy ünnepi beszédemet angolul folytassam.
For us Hungarians the 1956 Hungarian Revolution is not the past but it is here with us.
The world-famous Hungarian poet György Faludy described it in his poem “You Shining Star, My Nineteen Fifty-Six” as follows
„You, Nineteen fifty-six, you’re not my past,
not history and not a souvenir,
you are inseparable from my self,
my flesh, who came with me, to enter here (…)”
64 years ago, it was a Wednesday as well.
On the 23rd of October 1956 university students organised a demonstration in Budapest, which turned to be much more in some hours. Hungarians showed their will, their courage, their dedication to self-determination and freedom. The revolutionaries were ordinary people from every walk of life, but they became extraordinary as the October of 1956 demanded heroism and sacrifice. It was well-founded that the American Time Magazine chose the Hungarian Freedom Fighter as the Man of the year in 1956.
After the revolution 200 thousand Hungarians fled to the West and found a new home there. Approximately 10 thousand Hungarians came to Sweden, and a few of them are here with us tonight.
We will be always grateful to Sweden for the moving expression of solidarity for the Hungarian Revolution and we will always be grateful to our heroes for their sacrifice.
The 23rd of October is a symbol of freedom, independence and democracy. It pulsed in our souls when the new, democratic Republic of Hungary was proclaimed, when Hungary re-joined the community of free European countries and it is with us everyday when we take our decisions and make our choices.
If you walk past the Embassy’s fence you will find photos taken during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Some of them were captured by a Swedish photographer Anders Engmann, who happened to be in Budapest those days as a young reporter from Sweden. Anders’ wife Inga-Britt is with us tonight. I send our greetings also to Anders.
2020 is a remarkable year for the relations between our two nations, since it was in 1920, exactly one hundred years ago, that Sweden and Hungary established diplomatic relations. 12 November 1920 the Swedish Government recognised Hungary as an independent state, member of the international community.
During the past 100 years we experienced different historical challenges but in many cases our past met. The past 100 years of our relations have been filled with significant and very important moments, often driven by extraordinary people, like Raoul Wallenberg, Per Anger, Waldemar Langlet who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the darkest times of the XXth century or Folke Bernadotte leading Sweden’s Red Cross humanitarian rescue operation and bringing future to many Hungarian Jews who survived the concentration camps or those Swedish people who welcomed and helped the Hungarians of 1956 to find a new home here in Sweden.
To this day these and other acts of Swedish solidarity have not been forgotten in Hungary and by the Hungarian people.
Hungary and Sweden have a long history of cooperation in the fields of politics, trade, economy, science, culture which were broadened with defense and security after the political change in my country in 1989.
Our countries are dedicated to values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Hungary believes in a strong European Union based on strong Member States and we are proud to be a Member of the Union and we are eager to have good exchanges and strong collaboration with all Member States. Over the last decades we have worked together for ensuring security and peace in Europe and all over the world also through our military cooperation.
Hungary and Sweden have significantly expanded economic ties and our companies use the potential of the EU internal market. There are more than 100 Swedish companies that invested in Hungary and the value of the bilateral trade is impressive. Our common goal to create jobs and growth, ensure green transition and use the full potential of digital economy pave the way for even stronger and deeper future collaboration.
I believe that two countries’ cooperation is founded upon their people. All Hungarians living in Sweden and all Swedish people living in Hungary are special bridges between us. The Hungarian diaspora is a highly respected part of the Swedish society and they made a remarkable contribution to Sweden. Many with Hungarian origin became leading figures in their respective professions, like the composer János Sólyom, the filmdirector János Hersko, the sculptor Gusztáv Kraitz but there are many more in the fields of science, medicine or different business areas.
I feel honoured and privileged to be the Ambassador of Hungary in Sweden when we celebrate the centenary of our bilateral diplomatic relations.
I thank My Team at the Embassy for their hard and dedicated work on expanding our cooperation and I would like to thank all of you for being excellent partners and friends of Hungary.
I congratulate Sweden and Hungary for the centenary of our bilateral diplomatic relations!
***
I would like to invite Madame Deputy Speaker Åsa Lindestam and State Secretary Robert Rydberg to share their welcoming thoughts with us.
