"It is significant and encouraging to see that today all of Europe pays its tribute to the Hungarian revolt of 1956" and that "there is agreement on the value of a people’s freedom". László Sólyom, third president of Hungary since "the fall of the Wall", spoke today at the EU Parliament for the commemoration of the events that led to "people’s insurrection against the Communist regime" of half a century ago. "The heroic fight of 1956 earned my country explained the speaker at Parliament in Strasbourg appreciation and sympathy. Those events were in fact a first blow to the Soviet system" and "the communist ideology began to be questioned". "Even if went on Sólyom -, to tell the truth, we must say that back then the West was not interested in Hungary, which was left to fend for itself", after the Second World War, "like the other Eastern countries, left at the mercy of Moscow". Then, the president recalled other historical events, such as the "Spring of Prague" of 1968; "steps that came to an end in 1989, with the fall of the Communist regimes". After paying tribute to Imre Nagy, head of the Hungarian Government that was swept away by the USSR, Sólyom concluded by saying that "the real reason for this commemoration is that today Hungary is a sovereign, free state which can become a member of the international organisations, for instance the EU".” “
