At the opening of this exhibition we are not only commemorating a historic tragedy, but also the unshakeable solidarity of nations manifest in the common experience of hard times, said Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Administration and Justice on Saturday, at the Laczkó Dezső Museum in Veszprém. The exhibition commemorates the victims of the Katyń Massacre.

The Minister pointed out that the massacre revealed the essential barbarity of communism, since it was not only directed against the civilisation based here, but also against those who believed in respect for international law, truth to one’s word, and the rule of law in armed conflict.

Mr. Navracsics reminded his audience that among the victims there were also Hungarians, who died in Poland – their chosen homeland.

He stressed that Polish-Hungarian friendship is not only about the solidarity of two nations, but also a pillar of the concept of Eastern Europe: despite our dissimilar languages, we have experienced a sense of unity down the centuries.

Regarding the EU presidency, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that it is unprecedented for one nation to pass one of the main posts in Europe over to another which has such close ties with it.

Roman Kowalski, Polish Ambassador to Hungary, also attended the opening ceremony. He said that the exhibition arouses strong emotions in all who see it, but understanding is also everywhere to be seen. He stressed that the truth is always better than lies, even when it is painful to face it and difficult to forgive.

Agnieszka Pomaska, a Member of Parliament for the Polish Civic Platform, said that it is our duty to both remember and remind. In this spirit, she continued, the exhibition commemorates the dead and ensures our faith in the future. Totalitarianism claimed too high a price, and therefore we must remind today’s decision-makers of the past and of the fact that with power comes responsibility. In history, despite the horrors suffered, people have shown their ability to choose freedom and truth. Friendship between two peoples cannot be torn apart, not even by a succession of tragedies, and so the well-known saying remains true for all time: ‘Pole and Hungarian – two good friends...’

At the opening of the exhibition Mr. Navracsics gave the Director of the Laczkó Dezső Museum a book which had belonged to Andrzej Przewoznik, minister of state and historian, and which was found in the wreckage of the plane that crashed in tragic circumstances last year with President of Poland Lech Kaczyński on board. Mr. Przewoznik, who dealt among other things with Polish-Hungarian relations, was also one of the victims of the crash.

(kormany.hu)