Former U.S, President's Statue Unveiled in Budapest

This Friday, a statue in honor of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, was unveiled in Szabadság tér (Liberty Square) in Budapest on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe.

The statue pays tribute to President George H. W. Bush, who was the first sitting U.S. president to visit Budapest. President Bush is rightly recognized for the indelible contributions he made over a long career in public service, including as president and Vice President, to ending the Cold War in Central and Eastern Europe and supporting the development of democratic institutions. The inauguration of the statue takes place over thirty years after the Berlin Wall fell, the Iron Curtain lifted, and Europe was reunited; when freedom and democracy triumphed in Central and Eastern Europe and the Hungarian people chose to end the darkness of communism and pursue a path of liberty. As a result of this momentous change, and after hard work, the Hungarian people can live in greater security and freedom, the website of the American Embassy in Budapest says.

The statue was unveiled by the outgoing American Ambassador David B. Cornstein and Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán. Ambassador Cornstein noted that "President Bush has left a towering legacy, which we celebrate today and will honor forever with this statue. And it is right and proper that we celebrate as part of his legacy that he renewed the ties between Hungary and the United States to their rightful place as partners, which a decade later brought us even closer as Allies within NATO."

According to PM Orbán, Hungarians have always thought of the United States of America as a country of freedom. And today, "we pay tribute to our friend George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States, with a statue," he said. He then noted that a few years ago, a statue of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, was also erected in Szabadság tér.