President,

Prime Minister,

Madam speaker,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

 

Being in Budapest is always special to me.

This is a city and a country I have visited many times over many years.  

In the early 1990s my wife and I lived in Budapest.

And as NATO Secretary General I built close relationships with many of you here today.

 

But coming here to commemorate the 1956 revolution and freedom fight is particularly meaningful. 

October 23rd has always been an important day in my family.

 

I grew up hearing my mother and father’s stories about the uprising.

They spoke vividly about Prime Minister Imre Nagy and Defence Minister Pál Maléter,

who led the revolution with immense courage and were cowardly executed.

In those pivotal days in 1956, my mother and father went to the border between Austria and Hungary,

volunteering to help refugees escape.

 

My parents told me about the bravery of the Hungarian people;

Those who stood up for freedom and democracy;

And those they met who were fleeing oppression. 

 

Some of them have been close to my family since then.

And I still have friends in Norway who left Hungary at that time.

 

So it is moving for me to join in remembering all those who played their part in the momentous events of 1956.

 

The Hungarian people continued to suffer for decades.

But they demonstrated that democracy is stronger than dictatorship.

That freedom is stronger than oppression.

 

When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, Hungary regained its independence.

You were the first country to open your gates to the West.

 

Just ten years later you joined NATO.

And five years after that, you became a member of the European Union.

 

This spring, the Hungarian people once again demonstrated their commitment to democracy.

 

By joining the EU and NATO, Hungary became an integral part of the two pillars of the Euro-Atlantic security community

– rooted in shared values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law. 

And let me thank you.

Hungary is a highly valued member of the NATO alliance,

making key contributions to our shared security.

This includes leading one of NATO’s multinational battlegroups,

hosting one of the Alliance’s headquarters,

and not least substantial contributions to NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo,

helping to stabilize the Western Balkans.

 

Now, more than ever, we need a strong NATO.

Today, once again, our values are being tested.

Democracy can no longer be taken for granted. 

 

Just as Hungarians did in 1956,

Ukrainians are now facing Russian tanks.

 

Russia’s war of aggression is a brutal attack on a sovereign, democratic nation.

Russia wants to control Ukraine, and to reshape the whole European peace order through aggression.

It is an attempt to prove that might makes right, and that democracies are weak. 

But we are not weak when we stand together.

Together in NATO,

Together in Europe,

Together with Ukraine.

 

Ukraine is fighting not only for its own survival, 

but also for the principles of sovereignty, democracy, and self-determination. 

 

Our support for Ukraine is not charity. 

It is an investment in our own security

and in the future of a democratic and peaceful Europe.

 

The fight for freedom is not over.

We cannot allow Russia to succeed. 

 

Today, we honour the women and men who took a stand for freedom 70 years ago,

and those who continued to resist in the decades that followed.

 

The brave students

the workers

those who fought

those forced to flee

and those who gave their lives.

 

The 1956 revolution is a powerful reminder of the importance of defending freedom and democracy.

 

The revolution was suppressed.

But its memory will never be extinguished.

And freedom and democracy WILL prevail.

 

Thank you.