Embassy of Hungary, Washington, D.C.

On January 17, the Embassy of Hungary organized a symposium on the 30th anniversary of the return of the Holy Crown of King St. Stephen to the Hungarian people. A distinguished panel of outstanding historians, American decision-makers who played a role in that political move, and members of the U.S. delegation escorting the Crown to Budapest presented their personal stories of the historic trip the Holy Crown has taken from Fort Knox to Budapest.

In his introduction, Ambassador Ferenc Somogyi said that the Embassy wished to provide a forum to the panel and the audience to share their personal stories and experiences about one of the most important events in the Hungarian-American bilateral relations.

The discussion was moderated by Charles Gati, Professor of International Relations, Interim Director of Russian and Eurasian Studies, Johns Hopkins University SAIS. The panel included István Deák, Professor of History, Columbia University, member of the U.S. delegation; Robert King, Staff Director, Committee on Foreign Affairs, then Director for Central European Affairs, National Security Council; Robert Hunter, Senior Advisor at the RAND Corporation, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, then Director of West European Affairs at the National Security Council; and Robert Kaiser, Associate Editor of the Washington Post, son of the late Philip Kaiser, then U.S. Ambassador to Budapest. The panelists examined the historical, political and ideological complexities and consequences surrounding the decision to return the Crown to the Hungarian People and the mission’s aftermath. They also shared many anecdotes from their own involvement in the process. After the presentation, members of the audience, including members of the U.S. delegation in 1978, shared their views and posed questions to the panel.

The event also featured two separate exhibitions, displaying the history of the Holy Crown, documents from the Congressional hearings from the 1970s about the pros and cons of the return of the Hungarian regalia, and contemporary Hungarian articles and photos of the historic event in the Parliament of Hungary on January 6^th, 1978.