St Stephen, Hungary’s founding king, made the right decision when he accepted the crown from the pope and converted his country to Christianity, Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a speech marking Hungary’s August 20 national holiday on Friday.
This decision defines Hungary’s place in Europe and the world to this day, Varga said in the city of Soltvadkert, in southern Hungary. As stated in the National Avowal of Hungary’s Fundamental Law, Hungary can be proud that Stephen built the state on solid foundations one thousand years ago and made the country a part of Christian Europe, Varga said. “Though the criticisms, attacks and accusations we are faced with from the outside are slowly becoming a part of our everyday lives, we Hungarians have always chosen free will over tyranny,” the minister said. “Even if they try to label Hungarians a black sheep or a maverick, Hungarians like to decide their fate themselves,” she added. Hungarians will always listen to the other side and respect their position, but they will not accept anyone trying to suppress their will, relativise their values or force foreign ideals onto them, Varga said.
“As proud Europeans we believe that our national culture is a rich contribution to the diversity of European unity,” she said. “It is this identity, this legacy of St. Stephen that has made it possible for Hungarians to survive and prosper for a millennium.” The survival instincts Hungarians have developed over the centuries are what shape their will to resist “modern migration waves, Western self-destructive ideologies and Brussels’ imperial aspirations”, Varga said. Today it is again up to Hungarians to decide whether they will preserve their country as it is or allow the nation to be torn apart by “passing intellectual currents and foreign ideologies”, she added.
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