Hungary marks 70 years since the 1956 revolution
With a torchlight procession, flag-raising and a ceremony in parliament, Hungary remembers the uprising against Soviet rule. PM Magyar speaks outside parliament.
Archive image · Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Hungary on Friday marks the 70th anniversary of the 1956 revolution. According to the official programme, commemorations began on Thursday evening with the traditional torchlight procession from the Budapest University of Technology to Bem Square, where Prime Minister Peter Magyar was scheduled to speak at a wreath-laying, followed by the lighting of the "flame of the revolution" in Imre Nagy Square. On Friday morning a ceremonial flag-raising was planned with President Andras Baka, Speaker Agnes Forsthoffer, Magyar and foreign guests, the Budapest Business Journal reported. Magyar was also due to visit Plot 301 at Rakoskeresztur cemetery, where victims of the post-1956 reprisals are buried.
A central commemoration in parliament and a speech by Magyar in Kossuth Square follow in the afternoon. The opposition Fidesz party is holding its own event in Bem Square, with speakers including former President Janos Ader, while the Our Homeland Movement gathers at Corvin Passage. A vintage UV tram, a type first used on the same route in April 1956, runs on line 2. Abroad, Niagara Falls, Toronto's CN Tower, Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue and Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral are to be lit in Hungary's national colours.