Katalin Novák's speech on the occasion of celebrating King Saint Stephen's Day in Székesfehérvár
Dear Celebrating Audience,
I was delighted to accept the invitation that the mayor of Székesfehérvár extended to me on behalf of the city’s residents to pay our respects together to the memory of our holy king, the founder of the Hungarian state, and to celebrate here in the historical capital of Christian Hungary. Eight hundred years ago, the first article of the Golden Bull “Aranybulla” stipulated that "each year, on the feast of King Saint Stephen, we should celebrate in Fehérvár". We honour the words of the royal charter and here we are. Dear residents of Fehérvár, thank you for being with us!
This morning, we raised the national flag in the Main Square of the Nation, Kossuth Square and witnessed the investiture ceremony of military officers. Our soldiers took a solemn oath to "defend the independence of Hungary, the rights and freedom of its citizens, with courage, by upholding and enforcing the Fundamental Law and the laws, with the strength of the soldiers and with the weapons entrusted to their care, EVEN AT THE COST OF THEIR LIVES!"
The words „at the cost of their lives” resonate with even greater force now, when war is raging in our neighbourhood. We thank our soldiers for their patriotism, their determination and their courage - we hold these qualities in high esteem. May our Lord save us from war and to keep our soldiers and our families living in peace. May there not be a need for them to fight for their country, may they not be allowed to fight wars of conquest, and may we never become the battleground of great powers! We, the country's leaders, will do our utmost to prevent bloodshed on Hungarian soil!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, on the 20th August, in our villages, towns and cities across the Carpathian Basin, and in the diaspora, houses and streets are decorated with our national flag, and our hearts echo these festive spirits.
Is it necessary, is it possible to celebrate when weapons are being fired in the neighbourhood, when we are also facing the serious economic consequences of war? Can we celebrate when our fields are thirsting for soaking rain, when prices are constantly rising, when it is uncertain whether we will have energy to heat our homes, whether we will be able to power our economy? Is there a reason, a place and an occasion for celebration, when hundreds of thousands of families are anxiously rethinking their spending, their previous plans?
We need celebrations. Even now, and indeed, especially now, we ought to look at our common life from a perspective that helps us understand our past, see our present truthfully and make wise choices to help our future. It is now that we must rise to the heights and seek the depths in order to find the natural cohesion of our nation. Now is the time to draw strength from the wisdom, the faith, the foresight, the tact, the courage, the modesty of St. Stephen. Now is the time to reflect on the many misfortunes, feuds and injustices against which the Hungarian nation has remained strong.
In 1926, six years after the tragedy of Trianon, the author Gyula Krúdy wrote about 20 August:
“On St. Stephen’s Day, we will go to Budapest! – we often heard the heartfelt promise in the old days, and this promise was as full of flavour, as gingerbread. Since St. Stephen’s Day somehow had the same place in the minds of Hungarians as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost … a day from which everyone expected something, even those who otherwise had little to look forward to."
Ladies and Gentlemen,
St. Stephen's Day is a day of jubilation. We have reason to celebrate today. Even the communist dictatorship did not dare to take this day away from us completely, but only cowardly renamed it and tried to strip it of its essence. Secretly, they knew even then: we are the people of St. Stephen, and this root cannot be torn from the hearts of the Hungarian people. Just as our Fundamental Law commends our first king: „We are proud that our king Saint Stephen built the Hungarian State thousand years ago on a solid foundation and made our country a part of Christian Europe."
Our fate is intertwined with that of Europe, we are bound together. We cry together, we laugh together. Following in the footsteps of Grand Prince Géza, our founding king made a decision in favour of Christianity and the West. We strengthened the same commitment when we joined the European Union.
Did St. Stephen make the right choice? Yes!
Did the Hungarians who changed the political system make the right choice? Yes!
Even today, the question is not where we belong, but whether in twenty years, let alone a thousand years, the home of the Hungarians, i.e. Christian Europe, will still exist. Will it survive the test of time?
We need the community of European countries, just like they need us.
Today, when our continent could become a battleground of great powers, we must stand shoulder to shoulder. We must make joint decisions, shared European decisions that serve the common good. We Hungarians must recognise the shared values and interests, and so should other nations of Europe. Nevertheless differences between our countries are significant vast, and so are the opportunities therefore present. We must acknowledge this. A prerequisite for our cooperation and understanding is that we are not subjected to coercion. Neither through the funds that are legitimately due to us, nor through ideologies rejected by Hungarians. Hungary wants to increase Europe's strength, aims to strengthen Europe's voice, in order to have a chance to protect the people of Europe and to preserve everything in our history and culture that has made Europe great.
Dear Celebrating Audience,
We live in difficult times, and we must brace ourselves for even more sobering times.
To restore and preserve order in the world - and in Europe within it - we now need courageous, unwavering and wise leaders capable of upholding law and justice, who measure their lives and work in a higher context than the political struggles of everyday life. Leaders who do not shy away from a momentary lack of being understood, who are able to remain patient and calm. We need such leaders in Hungary and in Europe. Leaders, who do not forget the people in need and the destitute when making difficult decisions involving sacrifices and conflicting interests.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are facing testing times.
We need not just good leaders, but level-headed, discerning and wise Hungarians capable of showing solidarity. Hungarians are resilient to crisis and have the capacity to come together, although this often may not seem so. That is our reserve of strength here in Fehérvár, in Budapest, in the Nyírség and Baranya regions, in Kárpátalja and Délvidék.
31 years ago, in Heroes' Square, Pope John Paul II addressed the Hungarian nation, which had recently regained its independence, with the following words: "The name of peace is justice, solidarity and love. The nation can only hope for a better future if its citizens are able to take responsibility for the common good through common effort."
This is what I ask of you now. This common effort. So that in twenty years, or even in a thousand years, our national prayer on St. Stephen's Day may be sung in Hungarian, and there may be Hungarians to sing it.
Dear Celebrating Audience,
It is a profound connection that today we commemorate the founding of the Christian Hungarian state, and after having consecrated it, we also break the new bread. The state, if good and just, belongs to all who live within its embrace. The Christian state unites us. It is not simply a matter of faith, because whatever we think about faith, when we hear our National Anthem sung "O God, bless the nation of Hungary ...", it lifts the heart and soul of each and every Hungarian. This prayer, this song transcends party affiliation, beliefs and worldview. Our anthem invites us all to celebrate together.
This is no different with the new bread, because body and soul belong together. We, housewives, when we bake bread (perhaps more of us due to the pandemic), we do not only pay attention to the practiced techniques. While leavening, kneading, fermenting and shaping, we think about the people for whom we are baking that bread. In our home, the smell of fresh bread lures even teenagers to the table. When the butter from the children's knives melts on the warm loaf and they break their silence, the together-broken bread becomes the leaven of the family. Likewise, families are the leaven of a nation. So long there are people raising children responsibly, the Hungarian nation will grow stronger.
Today we celebrate the foundation of our Christian state. The foundation of a state is similar to the foundation of a family. It requires courage, faith, determination and hope for the future. Without the courageous decision of Saint Stephen there would be no self-reliant, independent and strong Hungary today. Just as we would not be here today without the courageous decisions of our great-grandparents, grandparents and parents. We needed them to dare to say yes. To say yes to life, to say yes to us. It is from these yeses that our community is built.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
For ten years I have had the privilege of encouraging young Hungarians to start a family, and to make sure that those raising children feel that we are there for them. 2010 was the year with the lowest number of marriages in Hungary, only 35,000. Last year, the same number exceeded 72,000, doubling in ten years. Let's be proud of it, and let's not give up on supporting people to have children in more difficult times, either. I welcome the decision that support for families expecting babies, purchasing a home or tax reliefs remain longer than planned and will be available next year!
Dear Celebrating Audience,
Today, we Hungarians, in our minds, and many families in reality, sit around the table of the nation, giving thanks for having bread despite the drought. Perhaps even remembering that our grandparents used to draw a cross on freshly baked bread with a knife before breaking it, just as my grandmother drew a cross on our foreheads before we went on a long journey. Our grandparents knew that bread was not just flour, water, leaven, but a spiritual quality, a connecting link: LIFE, as wheat is still called in some Hungarian regions.
Today, on this festive day of our nation, I wish you and I wish us all that there will always be bread on the table, and that there will always be people with whom it is a pleasure to sit around the table. As long as we are able to focus our attention on our parents and grandparents, and as long as our children and grandchildren feel it important to tell us their stories, we will have someone to bake bread for.
Thank you for your attention.
God bless the Hungarians, God bless Hungary!