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- Source: European Commission https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_26_2251
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed Hungary's National Assembly in Budapest on the 70th anniversary of the 1956 revolution, praising the country for reforms that have restored access to European Union funding and telling lawmakers their story is "our European story".
Key facts
What did von der Leyen say about 1956?
- Von der Leyen spoke to the Hungarian National Assembly in Budapest on the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
- She said Hungary has strengthened rules against fraud and corruption, increased transparency on public spending and is joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
- European funding is back, access to the Horizon Europe research programme is restored and all Hungarian students can again take part in Erasmus, she said.
- She cited a turnout of eight in ten voters in Hungary's election six months ago, the largest since the end of Communist rule.
- Von der Leyen said further steps are due by the end of this year, from NextGenerationEU to funds linked to academic freedom.
According to the text of the speech released by the European Commission, von der Leyen recalled the uprising as a peaceful but courageous stand by young Hungarians for freedom, democracy and Europe, met with swift and bloody reprisals as Soviet tanks and troops were sent against workers and students.
She said the crackdown revealed fear on the part of the Soviet authorities, who she argued were afraid of the people in whose name they claimed to act and afraid that a Hungarian success would spread the desire for democracy.
Von der Leyen said the anniversary was an occasion to mourn the tens of thousands of Hungarians killed or wounded, those arrested, imprisoned and executed, some as young as 18, and the 200,000 exiles who fled their homes, most never to return. Quoting the former Czech president Václav Havel, she said hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out. What has Hungary delivered on EU conditions?
Von der Leyen said she and Hungarian leaders agreed a common path forward after the election, with Hungary committing to fight corruption and restore the rule of law. She said the country has worked hard to deliver, strengthening rules to combat fraud and corruption, increasing transparency on how public money is spent and joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
She described the reforms as a response to demands from Hungarian voters and said they are producing concrete results, with European funding back, access to the Horizon Europe research programme restored and Hungarian students once again able to take part in Erasmus. "Finally! We missed them," she said.
More is due by the end of this year, she added, from NextGenerationEU recovery funds to money tied to academic freedom. Investor confidence is returning, she said, and Hungary's renewed commitment makes Europe stronger. What did she say about the election?
Von der Leyen said that six months ago Hungarians voted for a new chapter, with eight in every ten voters taking part, many for the first time, in the largest turnout since the end of Communist rule. She described the night of the vote as a spontaneous release of joy in which strangers hugged strangers on the streets of Budapest, on the same banks of the Danube where people marched and died 70 years earlier.
She said the country had again sent the world a message of hope: that democratic backsliding can be reversed, that disinformation and fearmongering can be defeated and that the future of democracy lies with the people.
Addressing lawmakers, she said: "We are one family. Your story is our European story. Your future is our European future." Thanking those she said were writing a new chapter, she added: "On behalf of Europe I say: thank you."
She closed with words written by Albert Camus on the first anniversary of the revolution, urging readers to forget quarrels, confront mistakes and strengthen solidarity in a Europe finally united. Von der Leyen said Europe did unite and has remained united, and that the task now is to keep it so long into the future. She ended with the Hungarian words "Éljen Európa" — long live Europe.
Source: European Commission
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