Today was the 171st anniversary of the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848 in Hungary. To commemorate the occasion — and to recognize the venerable friendship between Hungary and Poland — Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was invited to speak in Budapest, followed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Below are videos of the speeches given by the two prime ministers.
Video #1: Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
Many thanks to Ava Lon for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video #2: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
Many thanks to CrossWare for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Below is the full text of the national song quoted by Mr. Orbán in his speech:
Hungarian National Song
On your feet now, Hungary calls you!
Now is the moment, nothing stalls you,
Shall we be slaves or men set free
That is the question, answer me!
By the God of Magyars
We hereby swear,
That we the yoke of slavery
No more shall wear.Slaves we have been to this hour,
Our forefathers who fell from power
Fell free and lived as free men will,
On land that was their own to till,
By the God of Magyars
We hereby swear,
That we the yoke of slavery
No more shall wear.Whoever now his life begrudges
Deserves his death with thieves and drudges,
For setting his own worthless hide
Above his country’s need and pride.
By the God of Magyars
We hereby swear,
That we the yoke of slavery
No more shall wear.The sword shines brighter than the fetters
It is the finery of our betters,
Of slaves and fetters we grow bored.
Leap to my side, ancestral sword.
By the God of Magyars
We hereby swear,
That we the yoke of slavery
No more shall wear.Magyars, once more our name and story
Shall match our ancestors’ in glory
The centuries of shame and hurt
Can now be washed away like dirt.
By the God of Magyars
We hereby swear,
That we the yoke of slavery
No more shall wear.And wheresoever we may perish
Grandchildren those graves shall cherish
Singing our praises in their prayers
To thank us that our names are theirs.
By the God of Magyars
We hereby swear,
That we the yoke of slavery
No more shall wear.— Sándor Petőfi, March 15, 1848.
Video transcript #1:
| 00:20 | Thank you very much. | |
| 00:28 | I welcome our awesome Hungarian friends, and I welcome | |
| 00:32 | our Polish friends who are here with us! | |
| 00:40 | Thank you for this invitation | |
| 00:44 | to a huge great festival, | |
| 00:48 | a festival of freedom; “for our freedom and yours” [200-year-old Polish patriotic slogan], | |
| 00:52 | a festival of solidarity. | |
| 01:00 | Polish-Hungarian friendship | |
| 01:05 | has existed for over a thousand years, since the time | |
| 01:09 | of Saint Stephen and Bolesław Chrobry [first king of Poland]. | |
| 01:17 | Later also, | |
| 01:21 | during the reign of our ruler Bolesław Krzywousty, | |
| 01:25 | and Coloman the Learned [Hungarian king], who was a wise | |
| 01:29 | man indeed, who taxed his aristocracy | |
| 01:33 | two thirds of their income, with which | |
| 01:37 | they had to pay for the army, for a strong state. | |
| 01:50 | Our | |
| 01:54 | knights participated in great battles: | |
| 01:58 | in the victorious ones, and also in huge defeats, but we have always stood side by side. | |
| 02:10 | Like one hundred and seventy-one years ago, | |
| 02:14 | like seventy-five years ago in Warsaw, | |
| 02:18 | like sixty-three years ago in Budapest | |
| 02:22 | and during the time of Solidarity | |
| 02:26 | in Poland. | |
| 02:34 | We were | |
| 02:39 | always together when fighting for freedom in the past, | |
| 02:43 | and we want to fight for a better tomorrow | |
| 02:47 | in the future. | |
| 02:55 | This desire for freedom | |
| 02:59 | is so clearly visible in our history. Standing here | |
| 03:03 | and watching this beautiful spectacle, | |
| 03:08 | I asked Viktor [Orbán] about a | |
| 03:12 | commemorative plaque on the wall here | |
| 03:16 | in front of the stairs. | |
| 03:28 | This plaque, | |
| 03:32 | this is a plaque for Bauer Sandor, | |
| 03:36 | and we also have in Poland | |
| 03:40 | a person like that: Ryszard Siwiec. And also in the Czech Republic | |
| 03:44 | Jan Palach. Those were three people, who — | |
| 03:48 | protesting against the suppression of freedom — in Czechoslovakia | |
| 03:52 | committed self-immolation. | |
| 04:13 | And they unite us to this day. | |
| 04:17 | Ryszard Siwiec, Jan Palach, | |
| 04:21 | Bauer Sandor are our heroes, | |
| 04:25 | who didn’t accept bondage, who didn’t accept | |
| 04:29 | the imposition of foreign tyranny. | |
| 04:54 | One hundred and seventy-one | |
| 04:58 | years ago, when… | |
| 05:06 | …when the Revolutions of 1848 [also known as the Spring of Nations] | |
| 05:10 | did not succeed, | |
| 05:14 | [unintelligible] Hungarian soldiers — in addition to | |
| 05:18 | weapons — had to give the enemy their banners. | |
| 05:30 | But they didn’t surrender those banners. | |
| 05:34 | They cut them in pieces and distributed them among the soldiers, | |
| 05:38 | among the officers; they safeguarded them in their houses, | |
| 05:42 | in their families, in their hearts. | |
| 05:55 | They safeguarded them, so that the dawn of freedom | |
| 05:59 | and justice could return. And it did return! | |
| 06:07 | And our | |
| 06:11 | nations, today free nations, are stitched together | |
| 06:16 | from such pieces of banners: pieces of | |
| 06:20 | our huge history, pieces of our friendship, | |
| 06:24 | Polish-Hungarian friendship! | |
| 06:40 | And just like those banners | |
| 06:44 | stitched together, our homelands | |
| 06:48 | are something more than our individual | |
| 06:52 | fate, than those pieces of banners. In the same way | |
| 06:56 | we are today fighting for a better future. | |
| 07:21 | And that better future depends on our will, | |
| 07:25 | on the strength of our will. | |
| 07:29 | And today, just like | |
| 07:33 | one hundred seventy-one years ago, we are standing | |
| 07:37 | on the side of truth, of solidarity, | |
| 07:42 | of the common man, on the side of freedom. | |
| 08:02 | And in the name of that | |
| 08:06 | better future for Hungary, for Poland | |
| 08:10 | for Europe, we are fighting today also | |
| 08:14 | for truth and justice. | |
| 08:22 | And… | |
| 08:30 | And we are | |
| 08:34 | increasingly certain that just as the Turul [falcon, symbol of Hungary] | |
| 08:39 | and the White Eagle [symbol of Poland] brought us to victory | |
| 08:43 | in 1989, they will lead us, in the same way, | |
| 08:47 | towards even better times, in the near and the distant future, | |
| 08:51 | for our children and for our grandchildren. | |
| 09:15 | Already our two great | |
| 09:19 | poets Petofi Sandor and Zbigniew Herbert | |
| 09:24 | spoke with different words about our unity: | |
| 09:28 | “a great rope out of the air,” said Herbert | |
| 09:32 | about unity, “one Polish-Hungarian nation,” | |
| 09:36 | said Petofi Sandor. | |
| 09:48 | May this “great air rope” unite us: | |
| 09:56 | all Polish people, all | |
| 10:00 | Hungarians and all Europeans who | |
| 10:04 | believe in the Europe of homelands, | |
| 10:08 | in a better | |
| 10:12 | world for ordinary men. Not for | |
| 10:17 | the powerful, not for the establishment. | |
| 10:25 | May… | |
| 10:29 | May God bless Hungary, may God | |
| 10:33 | bless Poland, Europe. May he give us | |
| 10:37 | a better future! Thank you! |
Video transcript #2:
| 11:56 | Respected Prime Minister, distinguished celebrants, | |
| 12:00 | Hungarians… here and beyond the borders. | |
| 12:04 | Today, the Poles are with us. | |
| 12:08 | They are here with us today, | |
| 12:12 | just as they were with us in 1848 | |
| 12:16 | and in ’49 and afterwards | |
| 12:20 | during the 20th century, too. | |
| 12:24 | Mr. Prime Minister, please accept the greetings of the Hungarians — they come from the heart — | |
| 12:28 | and their felicitations. | |
| 12:36 | Without the Poles, Hungary would not be free today, | |
| 12:40 | and Europe would | |
| 12:44 | have not been reunited, either. The Poles gave us | |
| 12:48 | His Holiness John Paul II. | |
| 12:52 | They also gave us Solidarity. | |
| 13:00 | With this you changed | |
| 13:04 | the course of history. We were able to regain our freedom, | |
| 13:08 | and the sovereignty of our respective nations. | |
| 13:12 | We Hungarians lift our hats in respect | |
| 13:16 | before the Polish people. | |
| 13:28 | Poland has a special place | |
| 13:32 | in the hearts of Hungarians. Some say that | |
| 13:36 | such a close friendship of two nations | |
| 13:40 | could only be a romantic legend, and could not fit | |
| 13:44 | into the ruthless laws of modern politics. | |
| 13:48 | But we Poles and Hungarians have felt that way | |
| 13:52 | for a thousand years, and we believe | |
| 13:56 | that life itself is a great romantic adventure | |
| 14:00 | which is not worth a damn without friends. | |
| 14:04 | It was common… | |
| 14:08 | it was common, our story of suffering in the 20th century. | |
| 14:12 | We know how to be a friend when times are hard. | |
| 14:16 | But now we are preparing for a different type of future, | |
| 14:20 | for a spectacular Central European | |
| 14:24 | ascendancy, a replay of our one-time | |
| 14:28 | greatness. With an overwhelming force, | |
| 14:32 | an upward-swinging Central European renaissance. | |
| 14:36 | That is what we are preparing. | |
| 14:48 | Now we can be friends in an upward-swinging historical period, | |
| 14:52 | when finally we can live | |
| 14:56 | as we always wanted to. | |
| 15:00 | My friends! I’ve been to Poland in recent days. | |
| 15:04 | I have seen that if we want keep up with | |
| 15:08 | the development of the Poles, we have to get our act together! | |
| 15:12 | The largest and leading country of Central Europe | |
| 15:16 | is Poland. When from Brussels | |
| 15:20 | they attack Poland, they are attacking the whole of Central Europe, | |
| 15:24 | and they attack us Hungarians, too. | |
| 15:28 | For those empire-builders who want | |
| 15:32 | to spread their shadow over Central Europe, we say: | |
| 15:36 | they should always count on | |
| 15:40 | the strong Polish-Hungarian bond. | |
| 15:52 | Distinguished celebrators: | |
| 15:56 | They did not think about anything, but set to work, | |
| 16:00 | and they made March 15th happen | |
| 16:04 | with a poem and a couple of clanking | |
| 16:08 | swords of Juratus’ [law student of the time], and we live off that. | |
| 16:12 | This is how Kálmán Mikszáth [Hungarian writer of the era] phrased it. | |
| 16:16 | Seven whole generations’ time has passed since the first March 15th, | |
| 16:20 | and we are still living off | |
| 16:24 | that every year. We swear to the God of Hungarians, | |
| 16:28 | we swear an oath, that we stand by freedom, | |
| 16:32 | and swear against slavery. | |
| 16:36 | The national joint oath means | |
| 16:40 | that every Hungarian stands for every other Hungarian, | |
| 16:44 | and every Hungarian stands together for Hungary. | |
| 16:48 | “By the God of Hungary, We hereby swear | |
| 16:52 | That we the yoke of slavery No more shall wear.” [Sándor Petőfi: National Song] | |
| 16:56 | Distinguished celebrators, | |
| 17:00 | March 15th | |
| 17:04 | is the promise of national unity. | |
| 17:08 | Let there be peace, freedom and agreement. | |
| 17:12 | This is how the 12 points started. | |
| 17:16 | It reminds us that above the everyday elbowing, | |
| 17:20 | and above the everyday logomachy, | |
| 17:24 | there is a common, national goal, which | |
| 17:28 | keeps us together. The many kinds of Hungarian | |
| 17:32 | desires, which pull in a million directions, | |
| 17:36 | even today embrace the common will | |
| 17:40 | that in Hungary there shall be a free nation, | |
| 17:44 | living in its own sovereign free state. | |
| 17:48 | Distinguished celebrators, since 1848 | |
| 17:52 | …the times have decided | |
| 17:56 | what is true, and what is not. | |
| 18:00 | That which was found ephemeral was thrown out, | |
| 18:04 | and the only thing that could filter through the sieve | |
| 18:08 | was the truth. The truth is | |
| 18:12 | that Hungarians have the right, | |
| 18:16 | to their country. They have a right | |
| 18:20 | to live their lives as they see fit. | |
| 18:24 | Hard times may come… | |
| 18:32 | Hard times may come, | |
| 18:36 | as they came after 1848, when justice was | |
| 18:40 | tossed aside by the invading raw force | |
| 18:44 | and unlucky constellations. In hard times | |
| 18:48 | one must live, too. There were times, | |
| 18:52 | when we could not live as we wished, | |
| 18:56 | but only as we were permitted. But the truth | |
| 19:00 | remained truth even then, because | |
| 19:04 | ideals are always above reality. | |
| 19:08 | It is thus when we must live in the | |
| 19:12 | reality of compromise, but we dream with Lajos Kossuth [revolutionary leader of 1848]. | |
| 19:16 | It is thus when we must live scattered, but | |
| 19:20 | we dream of a common homeland. | |
| 19:28 | There did not exist, | |
| 19:32 | and never could exist such a strong | |
| 19:36 | and dodgy empire that could change anything about that. | |
| 19:40 | We do not need words for that, | |
| 19:44 | to know what another Hungarian is dreaming about. | |
| 19:48 | That is our real strength. | |
| 19:52 | Distinguished celebrators: The great marshal of the Poles, | |
| 19:56 | [Józef] Piłsudski, once said: | |
| 20:00 | “To be defeated and not submit is victory.” | |
| 20:04 | This is true not only for the Poles, but for the Hungarians, too. | |
| 20:08 | No matter that our fights for freedom | |
| 20:12 | ended in vain, with being invaded. | |
| 20:16 | In reality they never defeated us. | |
| 20:20 | Here in the shadows of empires, | |
| 20:24 | and at the crossroads of civilizations, for the persistence of the homeland, | |
| 20:28 | for the conservation of the nation, | |
| 20:32 | and for the preservation of Christian culture, wars were fought, | |
| 20:36 | and in the end we were always victorious. | |
| 20:40 | WE ARE AND WE WILL BE! | |
| 20:44 | “Magyars, once more our name and story”. [Sándor Petőfi: National Song] | |
| 20:48 | And this is how it will be as long the world remains. | |
| 20:52 | This is the greatest triumph that a European nation | |
| 20:56 | like ours could win over empires. | |
| 21:00 | Distinguished celebrators, | |
| 21:04 | The old ones taught us that | |
| 21:08 | one remains a child if he does not | |
| 21:12 | know what happened before he was born. | |
| 21:16 | We are an adult nation, and we know | |
| 21:20 | what we need to know. We know | |
| 21:24 | that our conquering ancestors, instead of submitting to an empire, | |
| 21:28 | chose a free western homeland. | |
| 21:32 | We know that the tribal leaders [alliance of seven tribes] out of free will | |
| 21:36 | raised the house of Árpád above them. | |
| 21:40 | We know that they were following their free will | |
| 21:44 | when they decided to embrace Christianity. | |
| 21:48 | They stubbornly insisted on their free will | |
| 21:52 | against the Ottomans, the Habsburgs, and | |
| 21:56 | the Soviets as well. So we know | |
| 22:00 | that the leading star in the history of the Hungarians is | |
| 22:04 | freedom; the guiding principle is the series | |
| 22:08 | of fights for freedom. We also know | |
| 22:12 | that the thought of freedom sprouted from Christianity. | |
| 22:16 | Before God, everyone is exactly the same, | |
| 22:20 | free and equal, even rich or poor, | |
| 22:24 | and can be the son of any nation. | |
| 22:28 | And every nation is equal too, independent | |
| 22:32 | of whether it was lucky or unfortunate in its history. | |
| 22:36 | That is why our Basic Law (Constitution) acknowledges | |
| 22:40 | the nation-preserving strength of Christianity. | |
| 22:44 | Without Christian culture there is no Hungarian freedom, | |
| 22:48 | and there is no free Hungary, either. | |
| 22:52 | …and that is so, regardless | |
| 22:56 | of what kind of relationship we may personally have with God. | |
| 23:00 | To the nations of Europe, we wish | |
| 23:04 | that the cataracts might fall from their eyes, | |
| 23:08 | so that they could see and understand: | |
| 23:12 | Without Christian culture there will not be any free life in Europe. | |
| 23:16 | If we do not defend our Christian culture, we will | |
| 23:20 | lose Europe, and Europe will never | |
| 23:24 | belong to the Europeans. We wish that the nations of Europe | |
| 23:28 | might abandon their night blindness | |
| 23:32 | to notice | |
| 23:36 | that in a Liberal European Empire, every one of us | |
| 23:40 | will lose his freedom. A man can only be free | |
| 23:44 | if he is a member of a free nation, | |
| 23:48 | and not the subject of an empire. | |
| 23:52 | The European people can only be happy | |
| 23:56 | if they can decide freely about their own fate. | |
| 24:04 | Distinguished celebrators: The day of the | |
| 24:08 | European Parliamentary election will soon be upon us. Ten more weeks, | |
| 24:12 | and it will “knock at our door”. | |
| 24:16 | For us Hungarians it must also be clarified | |
| 24:20 | what we want, what we can do. | |
| 24:24 | Not a single nation could want anything other than | |
| 24:28 | what it is the essence of their history. | |
| 24:32 | We Hungarians were the ones who in 1848 | |
| 24:36 | fought for the longest time. We were also the ones | |
| 24:40 | who in 1956 turned against the | |
| 24:44 | Soviet army, the largest army of the | |
| 24:48 | world at the time. And we were also the ones | |
| 24:52 | who stopped the migrant invasion initiated against Europe | |
| 24:56 | with the southern borders of our country [with a fence]. | |
| 25:12 | And we are also the ones… and we are also the ones, | |
| 25:16 | who want a strong Europe, strong nations, | |
| 25:20 | and want to see new strong leaders at | |
| 25:24 | the helm of Europe, who do not bring the trouble here, | |
| 25:28 | but send help over there. | |
| 25:40 | We want a new beginning, to stop the decline of Europe, | |
| 25:44 | to end the nightmare | |
| 25:48 | of the United States of Europe, | |
| 25:52 | so that Europe might once again be for the Europeans. | |
| 25:56 | Distinguished celebrators, | |
| 26:00 | Hungary is a fantastic country, in a beautiful location, | |
| 26:04 | with a particular culture and filled with talented | |
| 26:08 | people. We are proud of it, | |
| 26:12 | and love our country. A love of Hungary | |
| 26:16 | is what unites the Hungarians again and again. | |
| 26:20 | And Hungarians can only be united | |
| 26:24 | under the flag of freedom. | |
| 26:32 | If Hungary has freedom, | |
| 26:36 | it has everything. Happy, peaceful times, | |
| 26:40 | safety, lots of children, a thriving country, | |
| 26:44 | a strong nation. For us freedom is not a goal, | |
| 26:48 | but the road that leads us to our goals. | |
| 26:52 | And we Hungarians want | |
| 26:56 | simple things, just as in 1848: | |
| 27:00 | Our own country, good neighbors, | |
| 27:04 | understanding spouses, loving families, | |
| 27:08 | and work which has purpose, benefits, | |
| 27:12 | and bears fruit. That is why freedom for us | |
| 27:16 | is not an abstract idea, but life itself. | |
| 27:20 | Breath, the circulation of the blood and | |
| 27:24 | heartbeats. And because we are free, | |
| 27:28 | life holds out some great things for the Hungarians. | |
| 27:32 | The years ahead of us will prove beyond any doubt | |
| 27:36 | that we Hungarians did not to come into this world | |
| 27:40 | to suffer through life, but to give meaning | |
| 27:44 | to it. Hungary before everything else, | |
| 27:48 | God above all of us, Hajrá Hungary, Hajrá Hungarians! |
applausos!!
If they still gave out prizes for oratory, Orban would win, hands down:
For us, freedom is not a goal, but the road that leads us to our goals. And we Hungarians want simple things, just as in 1848:
Our own country, good neighbors, understanding spouses, loving families,
and work which has purpose, benefits, and bears fruit. That is why freedom for us is not an abstract idea, but life itself. Breath, the circulation of the blood and heartbeats.
And because we are free, life holds out some great things for the Hungarians. The years ahead of us will prove beyond any doubt that we Hungarians did not come into this world to suffer through life, but to give meaning to it.
Orban limns a portrait of freedom FOR, not freedom FROM. The latter is a dark hole of isolation, so loved by the ignorant.
We don’t have much time now. Apologies if this message is on the wrong site. I just sent this several hours ago and slightly altered form to the Foreign Ministers of the other four Visegrad states Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia;
To: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Péter Szijjártó
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
, March 16th, 2019
Dear Mr. Szijjártó
Re: Brexit 2019
I appeal to you to reject the vote to delay Brexit at the coming Euro summit on March 21st
This summit will be used by the European elites in Brussels and their lackeys in the British parliament to thwart the will of the majority of British citizens. Informed British voters who have voted to leave the European Parliament despite a barrage of pro-Europe government propaganda look upon you as the last hope of maintaining their dream of freedom from the European superstate.
Britain’s leadership has a long history of deceiving and suppressing its own people, from the acts of King Edward VIII’s publicity work on behalf of Nazi leadership, the Cambridge 5 spying on behalf the Soviet Union, the Rotherham and other sexual grooming gang attempted cover-ups and all the way to the enforced silencing of Tommy Robinson and other dissidents against the political status quo.
Britain has not covered itself in glory in permitting Hungary to be submitted to Communist tyranny post World War II, besides a protest by Winston Churchill. Most fair-minded Britons supported Hungary during its revolt for freedom in 1956 and would ask you to respond in kind.
Reject the vote to delay Brexit!
Köszönöm, és Isten áldja meg Magyarországot!
We Poles ,Hungarians and other CEE countries,were preached all the time by West about theirs Cultural Superiority..Moral ,Ethical Superiority..Democracy, Civil and Social achievements.. Where are you now ??
YALTA. 1945..That was your turning point..Once again on the War graves of CEE you were building your well being..Iron Curtain you build again, suppose serve your self interest ..
Iron Curtain you build in our CEE hearts and consciousness ,has totally different dimension..We DESPISE you..We despise your treachery,we despise your Egoism..your crocked Mentality ,Morality ,Ethics..Your soulless culture..where is no place for Human being..You are degenerate ..You destroyed what we built 2000 years..Christian Civilization..Christian Europe..Our common Home..
By your grids lack of empathy,egoism,selfishness you build your own grave..
There will be no more “Gates of Vienna “rescue.again..You don’t deserve our trust..our blood ,our sacrifices.
We let you have this time what you have work for, with all of this countless cruel WARS..Western Wars !!! all around the World..Your own Dead..Like Rome..
On your graveyards we CEE once again will built New Rome..Christian one..Like before..