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Hungary important U.S. ally |
5/14/2019 Hungary important U.S. ally- By FRANK KOSZORUS JR. as seen in THE WASHINGTON TIMES - Tuesday, May 14, 2019. ANALYSIS/OPINION:Ambassador April H. Foley's cogent op-ed ("Orban in Washington," Web, May 12) sets forth with great clarity why positive re-engagement by the United States in Central and Eastern Europe - most recently manifested by President Trump's invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the White House this week - is welcome. Ambassador April H. Foley's cogent op-ed ("Orban in Washington," Web, May 12) sets forth with great clarity why positive re-engagement by the United States in Central and Eastern Europe - most recently manifested by President Trump's invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the White House this week - is welcome. While Hungary has been a strong and reliable U.S. and NATO ally and classified a democratic country by the U.S. Department of State's Country Report, it nevertheless has been shunned by Washington and subjected to a blitz of public criticism. The only result of this incessant public lecturing has been to demean, humiliate and alienate Hungarians, even those who are opponents of the current government. This, in turn, has undermined U.S. strategic interests in the unity that is badly needed to confront significant challenges: The war against terrorists, an aggressive Russia and violations of minority rights that weaken regional stability and security. Hopefully, President Trump's recent meeting with Prime Minister Orban will serve to restore this much-desired unity and promote both U.S. and Hungarian interests. Washington Times Article | Shortcuts: Related Articles
March 15 is Hungarian National Day commemorating the 1848 War of Independence and fight for Liberation and Democracy. Kossuth Lajos (Louis) (b. 1802, d. 1894, pronounced co-shoot luh-yôsh) was Governor of Hungary and leader during fight for independence which was eventually defeated by the union of the royalist Austrian Habsburg and Russian Czarist Armies (1848 - 1849). Kossuth envisioned a federation in the Kingdom of Hungary in which all nationalties participated in a vibrant democratic system based on fundamental democratic principles such as equality and parliamentary representation. The bloody conflict eventually led to a great compromise known as the "Austro-Hungarian Empire," in which Hungary gained some autonomy, although Kossuth would have no part in it and demanded full indepependence until his death. It also inadvertantly set the seeds for Hungary's dismemberment after WWI at Trianon [ < back to AHF 1848 Commemorations] Shortcuts:
"the house of Habsburg-Lorraine, perjured in the sight of
God and man, had forfeited the Hungarian throne." "All for the people and all by the people. Nothing about
the people without the people. That is Democracy, and that is the ruling
tendency of the spirit of our age." Hear
Louis Kossuth Speak! [Click Here] - This is the speech of Louis Kossuth which he gave for the dedication of the statue for the 13 Hungarian generals, who were executed at Arad, Hungary, on October 6, 1849 (Arad is in Rumania today after annexation due to the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 ).
Louis Kossuth was exiled after the fall of the Hungarian Liberation Fight of 1848 and made his permanent home in Torino (Turin), Italy. He could not attend the dedication of the monument at Arad, without risking arrest, so he recorded his speech inTurin, and sent it to Arad using the new technology of sound recording, called the phonograph. The original recording on two wax cylinders for the Edison phonograph survives to this day, although barely audible due to excess playback and unsuccessful early restoration attempts. Lajos Kossuth is the earliest born person in the world who has his voice preserved. Since the audio is of such poor quality, here is it is transcribed in Hungarian and translated to English (special thanks to Louis Kossuth in North America)
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