On Monday Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed hope that a re-erected statue of former Hungarian prime minister István Tisza could be the "symbol of a new era of nation-building". István Tisza served as Hungary’s prime minister between 1903 and 1905, and from 1913 to 1917. He was assassinated in October 1918.

Speaking at the inauguration of the statue on Kossuth Square, Prime Minister Orbán stated that the re-erection marked the beginning of the new era for which the Government had been working hard since 2010. In the last four years, Hungary's honour has been restored and the foundation laid on which it again makes sense to speak about a Hungarian future in 21st-century Europe, he said.

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Tisza saw that political parties on the side of labour did not necessarily have to be communist or socialist, they could be national, too, he pointed out. Tisza saw the solidarity shared between different members of the nation, a solidarity that was capable of bridging differences between classes, he added.

The Prime Minister noted that Tisza had initially opposed World War I even while everybody around him supported it. He was one of the few who saw that the short-term alternative to the monarchy was anarchy, which would lead to the break-up of Hungary, he highlighted.

Present at the inauguration were Speaker László Kövér, former prime minister Péter Boross, church officials, ministers, MPs and members of the Tisza family.

(Prime Minister's Office)