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Wednesday, June 29, 2011
President Reagan Statue Inaugurated in front of the US Embassy in Budapest
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in front of the Reagan Statue
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén unveiled a statue of former US President Ronald Reagan on Wednesday, June 29, 2011, as part of the bicentennial commemoration of President Reagan, honoring him for his role in helping to end communism. The bronze 7-feet likeness of the 40th president was erected in front of the US Embassy in Szabadság Square, Budapest facing the World War II memorial to Soviet soldiers killed during the ouster of the Nazis from Hungary.
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Former US Secretary Rice said the cause of the Hungarian freedom fighters in the failed anti-Soviet Hungarian Revolution in 1956 deepened Reagan’s commitment to ending Communist rule around the world. “The men and women of 1956 inspired Americans and all free peoples never again to leave those alone who are struggling for their freedom,” Rice said. “And they inspired most of all Ronald Reagan.”
US Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis
US Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis welcomed the former State Secretary who served in the administration of President George W. Bush, as someone who, like President Reagan, had devoted her entire life to the cause of freedom. She said the statue of Ronald Reagan had found its home in Szabadság Square.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
Hungarian PM Orbán said that President Reagan “changed the world and created a new world for Central Europe. He tore down the walls which were erected in the path of freedom in the name of distorted and sick ideologies.” He also said that Reagan’s example should energize Hungarians and that walls in Hungary today had yet to be dismantled in order to “free ourselves from the brace of our past mistakes and to become a strong, successful country which is proud of itself.”
Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén
The inauguration event was preceded by a joint Hungarian-American conference in the former Senate Room of the Parliament of Hungary on Tuesday, June 28, 2011. Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, Chairman of the Hungarian Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission gave a keynote speech on the significance of the political achievements of President Reagan.
US Congressman and Republican Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy
Further speakers included Doyen Speaker of the Parliament of Hungary János Horváth, US Congressman and Republican Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, leader of the Congressional Delegation for the conference, and Congressman Mac Thornberry. Closing remarks were delivered by Hungarian Deputy Foreign Minister Zsolt Németh.
Hungarian Ambassador to the US György Szapáry, Former US Ambassador to Hungary April Foley, Former US Ambassador to Hungary George Herbert Walker in the Parliament of Hungary (photo by Attila Németh, US Embassy in Budapest)
Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi, Hungarian Ambassador to the US György Szapáry, Former US Attorney General Edwin Meese, US Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (photo by Sam Stewart, US Embassy in Budapest)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the US Congressional Delegation (photo by Sam Stewart, US Embassy in Budapest)
Hungarian Ambassador to the US György Szapáry, Former US Ambassador to Hungary April Foley, Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Annette Lantos, Hungarian President Pál Schmitt, Former US Ambassador to Hungary George Herbert Walker (photo by Attila Németh, US Embassy in Budapest)
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