Foreign Minister Hands Over the Renovated Szeleczky Castle in Boconád

People can once again take possession of Szeleczky Castle, which has been renovated with governmental support, announced Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Tuesday in Boconád (central Hungary).

The minister stated at the handover ceremony that the government had provided one billion forints (2.6 million euros) in support of the approximately two billion forint (5.2 million euros) renovation of the Szeleczky Castle in order to preserve its historical heritage.

In his speech, he pointed out that Hungary’s history is full of tragedies, misfortunes, and challenges that test people’s endurance.

“We have seen destructive dictatorships here, we have been the targets of foreign oppression, and we have often faced attempts to impose the will of foreigners on us. The fact is that the buildings that have remained here since long ago, our historical heritage, always provide a faithful reflection of how we think about ourselves, how the guardians of history think,” he said.

We Hungarians are proud of our history. We Hungarians are proud that we remained standing even in the most difficult and trying times. We are proud that even the most murderous dictatorships were unable to break the backbone of the Hungarian people. We are proud that we survived every dictatorship, every dictator, and every invasion. And we are proud that we are a nation in the heart of the Carpathian Basin with more than a thousand years of Christian statehood,” he added.

Péter Szijjártó then stated that the survival of our country was only possible because we never gave up our sovereignty.

We have always clung to our Hungarian identity, and we have always insisted that we, Hungarians, act in accordance with Hungarian national interests. And we have always stood up for ourselves, that only we, the Hungarian people, can decide the fate of Hungary, the Hungarian nation, and the Hungarian people. Not Brussels, not Berlin, not Kyiv, not anyone else, but us, the Hungarian people,”

he said.

In this context, he also touched on the successive crises of the past decade and a half and welcomed the fact that Hungary had emerged from them stronger than ever, which, in his words, was due to the sovereign national responses to these challenges.

“After the worst financial crisis, we built an economic model in Hungary in which everyone who wants to work can do so. Even in the midst of the greatest migratory pressure, we protected our national identity, preserved Hungary as a country for Hungarians, and to this day we remain a migrant-free country. Then, when the pandemic raged here, we were brave enough to turn eastward (…) And for four years, we have been making efforts every single day to stay out of the senseless, meaningless, and hopeless war raging in our neighborhood,” he said.

The minister finally emphasized that we are still living in fateful times when everything could be lost. “If they can force us into a war that has nothing to do with us,” “if they force us to ensure that Hungarian people’s money does not remain in Hungary, but serves the functioning of another country.”

“You can see that the flames of murderous wars are flaring up in different parts of the world. A new world order is emerging before our eyes, in which nothing will be the same as it was before. And in order to remain strong in this new world order, we must repel any attempt to take away our sovereignty and our national interests,” he concluded.

Via MTI; Featured image: MTI/Máthé Zoltán

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