UDMR President Kelemen Hunor said Friday night in a speech on freedom and “today’s enemies of freedom” held at the Romanian-Hungarian Reconciliation Park in Arad that “people’s freedom is not complete here, because the Austrians can still put sticks in our wheels today “, drawing an analogy with the Paschopist revolution and the ideals of independence from the Austrian Empire.

“Today, our freedom has another barrier, if we talk about Austrians – it is Schengen. The freedom of the people is not complete here, because the Austrians can still put sticks in our wheels today. They prevent complete freedom without real and real reasons, they are against the possibility of free movement; those who want to cross the border, located just a few kilometers from here, have to stand in lines for many hours; this should change as soon as possible,” he told hundreds of participants at a commemoration of 13 generals killed in Arad at the end of the Pasha revolution, Agerpres reports.

Kelemen also mentioned “modern enemies of freedom”.

“Four years ago, several ultra-rightists created a party – a year later they are in the parliament and today they are the second largest political force in the country. The story itself is short, but the list of dangers is long. We saw what they did in Val Uzului, we heard how they threatened us about the Roman Catholic High School in Tirgu Mures or how they always think of a conspiracy when there is a football match. We’ve seen this before in the past few decades. What is new are not the ideas – if we can say that irrational hatred will take any imaginable form – but the actors and means,” said Kelemen Hunor.

The demonstration in Reconciliari Park began with the singing of the national anthems of Romania, Hungary and the European Union, which was attended by hundreds of people and officials, including the Minister of Construction and Investments of Hungary, Lazar János. After the speeches, wreaths were laid at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, a Hungarian monument commemorating the hanged generals in the city of Arad.

Friday’s commemorative events concluded the Arădene Hungarian Days program, which ran for two weeks starting on September 22, and included activities for children and youth, a craft fair, performances and sports events, as well as concerts by some artists from Hungary.

Every year on October 6, the majority of the Hungarian community gathers to commemorate 13 officers of the Imperial Austrian Army who were executed on charges of treason for joining Lajos Kossuth’s revolutionary movement and supporting Hungary’s demands for independence. from the Austrian Empire.