On Thursday afternoon Bertalan Havasi, the Deputy State Secretary heading the Press Office of the Prime Minister, informed Hungarian news agency MTI that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has issued a written message to Hungarians around the world. On the eve of 15 March – the day of the birth of Hungarian freedom – Mr. Orbán paid his respects to all his Hungarian compatriots and wished them an uplifting celebration.
The Prime Minister wrote: “March the fifteenth 1848 is the symbol of our freedom, our national independence and our unity as a nation. Wherever in the world we may live, on this day our hearts beat together in unison, we wear the national colours on our lapel, and together we acclaim the ‘Youth of March’. We remember the heroes who bravely avowed ‘homeland before all else’, and gave witness of this on the battlefields in their fight for freedom.” Mr. Orbán added that 171 years ago these four words changed the fates of millions of Hungarians, and “have taught us ever since that we can only win if we proudly embrace our language, our culture and our national symbols.” He stated that “Just as in 1848, it is true today that only strong, self-respecting nations that act together for their future can stand their ground against imperial threats.”
Concluding his message to the Hungarians of the world Mr. Orbán wrote: “Therefore, when we remember the Revolution and Freedom Fight, we behold men and women who set an example for Europe by showing that for them their country came first, and for the freedom of their shared homeland they were prepared to bravely confront even an enemy that greatly outnumbered them. I am convinced that today also we can derive strength from their heroic resistance. Long live Hungarian freedom, long live our homeland!”