A bust of former Hungarian PM József Antall was unveiled on Tuesday by his widow, Mrs Klára Antall in the wing of the European Parliament in Brussels named after him.
Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Gergely Gulyás, Deputy Minister of State of the Ministry of Human Capacities Gergely Prőhle, and Head of the Hungarian Delegation of the EPP András Gyürk also held speeches at the inauguration ceremony.
Mr Antall’s widow also announced at a symposium held prior to the ceremony that on 8 April, the Brussels office of the József Antall Knowledge Centre will be opened, marking both the 25th anniversary of Mr Antall’s taking office and the reunification of Europe.
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At the unveiling ceremony, Mr Gulyás noted that Mr Antall realized early on that Hungary should become a part of the European community and NATO, and the need to create a market economy based on the classical ideals of Christian democracy.
Mr Prőhle reminded that Mr Antall warned against the destabilization of Eastern Europe, recognized the important role of Ukraine and relations with Russia, as well as the reinforcement of NATO for Western and Central Europe, while – as early as 1993 – marking Islam fundamentalism as “the Bolshevism of the 21st century”.
József Antall, Jr. (8 April 1932 – 12 December 1993) was the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of Hungary after the fall of Communism (from 23 May 1990 until 12 December 1993, his death), teacher, librarian, historian and political figure. He was the leader of the Hungarian Democratic Forum between 1989 and 1993.
(Ministry of Human Capacities)
