On 25 February we remember the victims of communist dictatorship, those who were executed, incarcerated and destroyed and whose only sin was that they failed to fit into the narrow boundaries of the class struggle ideology, Zoltán Kovács, Minister of State for International Communication and Relations told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Friday.

He recalled that it was the first Orbán Government that decided that we should finally commemorate the victims of communism in a dignified manner.

He said it is unacceptable that to this day communism is perceived in Western Europe “with nostalgia mixed with enthusiasm for good measure”. “While we here in the Central European region experienced first-hand what it is like to live in oppression and fear,” he added.

Mr Kovács highlighted that today in Hungary “we live in freedom and security, we have a future that we chose for ourselves, unlike in dictatorship”. “We understood that we can only be free if we never resign our national sovereignty ever again,” he said.

The Minister of State said that, as part of the centrally organised programmes, all day long on Monday the House of Terror Museum will await visitors with special history lessons and guided tours. The guided tours will be attended by celebrities such as Ákos, Feró Nagy and Adrienn Zsédenyi.

Commemorators will be able to pay tribute at the Wall of Heroes by lighting candles throughout the day.

At the central commemoration, Justice Minister László Trócsányi and Mária Schmidt, Director General of the House of Terror Museum will deliver speeches.

On the Monday Memorial Day, the House of Terror Museum will be open for free visits all day long.

In 2000 Parliament declared 25 February the Memorial Day of the Victims of Communism in memory of the fact that it was on this day in 1947 that Béla Kovács, Secretary General of the Independent Smallholders’ Party was arrested unlawfully prior to being taken to the Soviet Union.

(MTI)