Flag flown at half-mast in front of Parliament – UPDATE

Budapest, November 4 (MTI) – Hungary’s flag was raised and then lowered to half-mast with military honours in front of Parliament on Wednesday to mark the 59th anniversary of the crushing of the 1956 revolution and freedom-fight.

The Hungarian government in 2013 declared November 4 to be a national day of mourning.

Following convention, the commemoration began with the singing of the national anthem in Kossuth Square with representatives of Hungary’s military, state officials, and members of the foreign diplomatic corps in attendance.

In the afternoon, Gergely Gulyas, parliament’s deputy speaker, gave a speech in the Urania National Film Theatre that presented a documentary entitled Sentenced to Life (Eletreiteltek). Gulyas said the 1956 revolution was an eternal symbol of freedom fight and the documentary portrays heroes who demonstrated their loyalty to the Hungarian nation and its freedom.

Addressing a commemoration in Veszprem, in western Hungary, the parliamentary state secretary of the human resources ministry, said that 59 years ago some 2,000 tanks rolled along on the roads in Hungary which gave people the experience that such a move can mean an end to one’s, as well as to a nation’s freedom.

“1956 reminds us that freedom once achieved must be protected every day,” Bence Retvari said.

Addressing a commemoration at the Kiscelli Museum in northern Budapest, the economy minister said that the Hungarian nation could not exist without remembering 1956 and that the values the revolution and freedom fight reinforced must be endorsed.