BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Guests from across Europe gathered in Hungary’s capital on Friday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the country’s bloody 1956 anti-Soviet uprising and signal a new chapter in relations with Budapest after the ouster of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
During his 16 years in power, Orbán and his far-right Fidesz party antagonized the European Union, repeatedly blocked the bloc’s decisions and grew closer to Russia despite
its war in neighboring Ukraine.
Orbán’s dismantling of democratic norms and alleged complicity in widespread corruption prompted the EU to seek ways to circumvent his frequently used veto on major decisions and freeze billions in funding for Hungary to prevent its misuse.
Since unseating Orbán in a landslide election victory in April, Prime Minister Péter Magyar has pursued suspected corruption cases involving the previous administration and worked to rebuild Hungary’s ties with Europe and the wider West.
Addressing tens of thousands of people in Kossuth Square beside Parliament, Magyar praised the bravery of Hungarians who rose up against Soviet oppression in 1956 and “gave their lives for a democratic and independent Hungary.”
“Since 1956, every Hungarian leader, and I repeat every Hungarian leader, must know that his power can never be more important than the freedom of his country,” Magyar said, alluding to Orbán. “Hungary is not a country that can drift forever between East and West. In 1956, the Hungarians made a clear choice: We belong to a free and democratic Europe.”
Earlier on Friday, Magyar placed flowers at the graveside of Hungarians who were killed during the popular 1956 uprising that began with a students’ march in Budapest on Oct. 23 and spread across the country.
After revolutionaries successfully ousted Hungary’s Stalinist leader and Soviet troops were forced out of the capital, a directive from Moscow sent the Red Army back into Budapest two weeks later and brutally suppressed the revolution, killing as many as 3,000 civilians and destroying much of the city. Around 200,000 people fled the country, many never to return.
Friday's visiting dignitaries — including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and president of the European Council Antonio Costa — were in Budapest at the invitation of Magyar, whose center-right, pro-European Tisza party now holds a two-thirds majority in Hungary’s parliament.
Only three weeks after taking office, his government implemented rapid reforms to unlock 16.4 billion euros ($18.4 billion) in EU funds that were frozen under Orbán.
Speaking during a commemoration in Parliament, von der Leyen said that in 1956 Hungarians had “fought against impossible odds for the values of freedom, democracy, and justice that define our vision of Europe today.”
She praised Magyar’s administration for its “renewed commitment to our common future,” and for the reforms it has carried out since Orbán’s defeat.
“Six months ago, the people of Hungary voted for a new chapter,” she said. “This country once more sent to the world a message of hope: That democratic backsliding can be reversed, that disinformation and fearmongering can be defeated, that the future of democracy is in the hands of the people.”
Magyar this week said the ill-fated Hungarian Revolution was one of the brightest moments in the nation’s history.
“It is even better if the whole world remembers this revolution and the Hungarians’ love for freedom,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
