Minister without Portfolio Lajos Kósa, who celebrated the 1956 revolution and freedom fight together with Hungarians living in California, highlighted in Los Angeles: Hungarians, wherever they may live, are tied together by their love of freedom and the fight in its pursuit.

Mr Kósa laid a wreath at the 1956 memorial at Mindszenty Square in Los Angeles on Sunday together with representatives of the Consulate and Hungarian organisations. This was the first time that representatives of the local Armenian community also attended the commemoration.

After the wreath-laying ceremony, celebrations continued with poetry recitation, a folk dance presentation and music, as part of which the Minister without Portfolio delivered a speech. Mr Kósa stressed that the history of the Hungarian people is a success story, the success story of an ongoing struggle for freedom. "While the revolution of 1956 failed in the short term, the roots of today’s Hungarian reality and democracy stemmed from 1956. If there is no ’56, there is no ’89 either”, he said. He added: Hungarians are tied together by a strong desire for freedom and the struggle fought in its pursuit, and we have this in us even while the country is a firm member of several alliances, such as NATO, the European Union or the V4 country group.

Mr Kósa celebrated with the Hungarian community living in Redwood City South of San Francisco a day earlier. At the commemoration held at the local Reformed Church, he highlighted: the tenet of the Hungarian Government’s nation policy is that each and every one of the 15 million Hungarians living world-wide is a member of the Hungarian fate community, they belong together wherever they may live around the world, and the Government cares for them.

American Hungarian communities commemorated 1956 throughout the United States. A commemoration was held in the Hungarian school in Orlando, Florida, already on Saturday, while there were celebrations in memory of the events that took place 61 years ago within the framework of church services in several places on Sunday, including the capital Washington, Venice and Miami, Florida. In the city of Naples, Florida a ceremony was held under the title On your feet, Magyar. Commemorations and ceremonies were held in Grand Rapids, Detroit, Minnesota, Chicago, Boston and Cleveland as well.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)