Polish President visits Hungary

The President of the Republic of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski visited Hungary this past week-end to take part in events held on the occasion of the Day of Hungarian Polish Friendship. He was hosted by his Hungarian counterpart, János Áder.

Following a short meeting between the presidents, Bronislaw Komorowski held a lecture at the Faculty of Arts of the Hungarian capital’s ELTE University about the importance of the 25 years that have passed since the change of the political, social and economic system in this region of the world. The two presidents inaugurated the statue of Emánuel Korompay, once the student of this faculty, who became the first Hungarian language lector of the University of Warsaw and served as an officer in the Polish army after the break-out of the Second World War and he was killed in Kharkov in 1940. The presidents also planted an oak tree in his memory.

The Friendship Day commemorations were held this year in the town of Eger in NE Hungary. Before the evening ceremony in the local Géza Gárdonyi Theater, the presidents and their wives inaugurated a plaque in the Eger castle to commemorate that Hungary received Polish war refugees in 1939.

At the evening ceremony, President Áder pointed out that “the friendship of the Hungarian and Polish peoples can serve as an example to other nations in the region.” He said that “the Hungarian and Polish people are connected by their thirst for freedom, independence and their insistence on a European statehood, all of which have proven to be strengths that could shape history,” adding that freedom-loving Hungarians and Poles helped contribute to the reunification of Europe.

Áder noted that Hungarians helped the Poles in 1939, when they fled their country from Nazi occupation by the thousands, and who, earlier in history had joined the Hungarian Lajos Kossuth’s army of freedom-fighters in 1848. Hungarians also demonstrated solidarity towards Poles in 1956 and the help was returned by Polish people donating blood and medicine to Hungarian revolutionaries.

President Komorowski talked about the importance of further developing ties between their nations. The Polish president noted that Poles represent the third largest group of tourists in Eger and that Polish-Hungarian friendship is apparent in the wine trade, too. According to a 2007 decision by Hungarian parliament, March 23 is celebrated as the day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship each year.