A bronze memorial plaque was placed in front of the night club in Veszprém, where Romanian handball player Marian Cozma, member of MKB Veszprém handball team, was killed five years ago.

During the ceremony this Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics said that because of his talent and personality, Marian Cozma was loved by all. With his senseless death, a promising career was put to an end. He recalled that Cozma came from a talented family and his parents and fellow countrymen were proud to see him being in Veszprém, where handball is such a cultic sport with a long history.

DownloadThe Minister pointed out that five years ago people gathered right here in Virág Benedek street and “it is shocking to think back to a certain point where the killer instinct, the animal instinct rises in a human and murders one of his fellow men. A fellow man this city was proud of.” Due to Marian Cozma’s lovable and gifted personality, he was everyone’s favorite, so as ours “who accommodated him here” said Tibor Navracsics. As the Minister pointed out, “back then we all died a little in Veszprém; we felt that nothing bad is going to happen here (...) And in this case, it is not comforting that the murderer was not from the city.”

He added that there must be a memorial for Marian Cozma in Veszprém, that people who walk on the sidewalk understand that “Marian Cozma is ours and will always be and on the other hand, horrors may happen in such a lovely city too, if we do not take care of each other.”

Co-chair of MKB Veszprem handball team , Gabor Kálomista praised Marian Cozma’s father; who tried to calm things down even after news arrived on his son’s death. He pointed out that during the funeral of Cozma, Romanians applauded the attending Hungarians. He believes that the death of Cozma has shown that there isn’t any tension between Romanians and Hungarians but indeed friendship between the two nations.

The plaque was made by the Municipal Publicity Foundation and its inscription reminds us that the Romanian handball player of MKB Veszprem was killed on spot at the 8th of February 2009 and the epigraph ‘Rest in Peace’ is visible on the surface in both languages, Romanian and Hungarian alike. The plaque embodied in the pavement is the place where the Foundation will hold its annual memorial service on the anniversary of Marian Cozma’s death.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)