The president of the UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, said on Friday evening, in a speech about freedom and “today’s enemies of freedom” held in the Romanian-Hungarian Reconciliation Park in Arad, that “the freedom of the people here is not complete, because the Austrians can still today to put sticks in our wheels”, making an analogy with the Pashopist revolution and the ideals of independence from the Austrian Empire.
Kelemen HunorPhoto: Agerpres
“Today, our freedom has one more barrier, speaking of the Austrians – Schengen. The freedom of the people here is not complete, because the Austrians can still today put sticks in our wheels. They prevent full freedom without true and real reasons, they oppose the possibility to move freely; those who want to cross the border, located just a few kilometers from here, have to stand in line for many hours; this must change as soon as possible”, stated Kelemen Hunor in front of hundreds of participants at the commemoration of 13 generals killed in Arad at the end of the Pashoptist revolution, reports Agerpres.
He also referred to “today’s enemies of freedom”.
“Four years ago, a few people from the extreme right formed a party – a year later they are in the Parliament and today they are the second largest political force in the country. The story itself is short, but the list of dangers is long. We saw what they did in Valea Uzului, we hear them threatening us about the Roman Catholic High School in Târgu Mureş or how they always think of a conspiracy when a football match takes place. We’ve seen this before in the last few decades. It’s not the ideas that are new – if we can say that irrational hatred would have any imaginable form – but the actors and the means”, said Kelemen Hunor.
The demonstration in Reconciliari Park began with the singing of the anthems of Romania, Hungary and the European Union, with hundreds of people and officials present, including the Hungarian Minister of Construction and Investments, Lazar Janos. After the speeches, wreaths were laid at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a Hungarian monument that evokes the memory of the hanged generals in the city of Arad.
Friday’s commemorations ended the program of “Arădene Hungarian Days”, which stretched over two weeks starting on September 22 and included activities for children and young people, a craft fair, performances and sports events, as well as concerts by some artists from Hungary.
Every year, October 6 gathers most members of the Hungarian community, who pay tribute to the memory of the 13 officers of the Imperial Austrian Army executed on charges of treason, because they joined the revolutionary movement of Lajos Kossuth and supported the Hungarian demands of independence from the Austrian Empire.
