Hungary hoisted and lowered to half-mast the national flag in front of Parliament on Saturday morning in a military salute to commemorate the leaders of the revolution and freedom fight who were executed by Austria in 1849.
The government declared October 6th a national day of mourning in 2001, where state commemorations remember the plight and fight of those affected by the events of that time.
On Saturday morning, Hungary’s President János Áder attended the commemoration ceremony in the square in front of Parliament and later attended a commemoration in Kemecse, northeast Hungary.
The president said that the example and faithfulness of the heroes of the 1848/49 revolution and freedom fight had strengthened in later generations of Hungarians the conviction that “freedom is an irreplaceable value that we must never give up”.
Speaking at the grave of General Mihály Répásy, the president said the desire for freedom at that time “was built on such a strong foundation in the soul, thoughts and values of Hungarians that it could no longer be destroyed by any of the subsequent periods”.