On Thursday, January 19 a remembrance ceremony was held on the 6th anniversary of the plane crash at Hejce, to commemorate the victims of the most serious disaster in the history of the Armed Forces of Slovakia, which occurred near the village on the border and claimed 42 lives.

The ceremony was attended, among others, by Róbert Ondrejcsák, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovakia, MoD State Secretary for Public Administration Lajos Fodor, Maj.-Gen. Miroslav Kocian, the Deputy Chief of Defence of the Republic of Slovakia, Lt.-Gen. Zoltán Orosz, the Deputy Chief of the MoD Defence Staff, military attachés and the victims’ relatives, friends and comrades.

On the morning of January 19, as part of the memorial event, Maj.-Gen. Ján Salaganic, the Land Forces Chief of the Armed Forces of Slovakia, Brig.-Gen. Dr. Gábor Böröndi, the commander of the HDF 5th ‘Bocskai István’ Infantry Brigade, and Col. Karol Navratil, the commander of the Slovak 2nd Mechanized Brigade commemorated the tragedy that happened six years ago on the site of the disaster in the Slovak Memorial Park established on Borsó Hill above the village.

Early in the afternoon, the delegations participating in the commemoration paid their tribute by the memorial erected inside the village, together with the numerous relatives, invitees and the local citizens present at the event. After the ceremonial opening, the participants laid the wreaths of remembrance in front of the Slovak and Hungarian guards of honor lined up for the ceremony.

In what followed, State Secretary Róbert Ondrejcsák conveyed a message sent by Iveta Radicova, the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovakia. In this speech, the State Secretary commemorated the peace mission that the victims of the accident had carried out in the conflict-torn country of Kosovo. “They have proved that Slovakia has become a fully-fledged democratic state which stands up for human values. If we keep the memory of these men alive in our hearts, they will live forever!” – this was how the Slovak State Secretary closed his speech.

Afterwards MoD State Secretary for Public Administration Lajos Fodor recalled the hours of the tragedy that occurred six years ago, praising the unprecedented extent of joining forces that night.

In his speech he underlined the importance of the joint enterprise, the KFOR mission, which facilitated establishing peace in Kosovo, which the Slovak comrades carried out in a soldierly way.

The State Secretary closed his speech by pointing out that “We have passed a test of humanity here as well. We have established a relationship between the two nations which, as I firmly believe, nothing can sever!”

After the memorial speeches Géza Rohály, the mayor of Hejce recited his own poem, then the representatives of the Slovak and Hungarian military ordinariates said their prayers in remembrance of the victims of the tragedy.

(Ministry of Defence)