The prizes were presented by President of Hungary János Áder in the presence of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on 15 March 2016 in the Cupola Hall of the Parliament Building.

The cockade sported above our hearts has symbolised the same thing for 168 years: the desire for freedom, independence and a strong middle class, Mr Áder stressed upon the delivery of the Kossuth and Széchenyi Prizes and the Hungarian Orders of Merit.

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The head of state highlighted: in 1990 the generation that was responsible for the change of regime could well have chosen the quote from Mór Jókai “We have come to create Hungary” as its compass. “The fact that today’s Hungary little resembles the Hungary before the nineties is also thanks to the scientists, doctors, university professors, artists, those who guard our peace of mind, people active in our public institutions and the leaders of business life who have been decorated today”, the President of the Republic said in praise of the those who received awards.

Mr Áder said: talent is a God-given gift which must be allowed to grow in order for it to benefit others. These were Sándor Petőfi’s words of encouragement to János Arany, who had less faith in his own abilities. He added: while the misery, the anguish and the creative fight of the truly excellent are always personal, their achievements and joy are not only theirs, but also those of the wider public.

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The head of state said thanks to the prize winners “for asking questions, converting their talents into success, searching for the truth, serving life, helping the needy and the sick, looking after our souls, raising the next generations and making the future sustainable for all of us”.

At the ceremony twenty-one persons were awarded different categories of the Hungarian Order of Merit, one person received the Kossuth Grand Prize, the Kossuth Prize was awarded to seventeen artists, and the Széchenyi Prize, too, was awarded to seventeen recipients.

(MTI)