Bence Retvari: We Believe in a Europe Where Family, Nation, Are Not Attacked by Anyone

The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes is especially important for those living in Central and Eastern Europe, as it may help reduce the double standards within Europe, Bence Retvari, the parliamentary state secretary at the interior ministry, declared at this year’s commemoration in the capital. He emphasized that never again should murderous ideologies take control in Europe, ignoring human dignity and the sovereignty of nations. Rajmund Fekete, Director of the Institute for the Research of Communism, added that Hungarians bear a serious responsibility in opening the eyes of Western Europe.

Bence Retvari, parliamentary state secretary at the Interior Ministry, delivers a speech at the commemoration marking the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes in Budapest, at the Memento 1945–56 memorial in Students’ Park, on August 23, 2025. (Photo: MTI/Peter Lakatos)

Hungarians Still Remember the Price of Freedom

Rajmund Fekete, Director of the Institute for the Research of Communism, recalled that in 1989 people hoped that the crimes of communism would be judged in the same way as those of the Nazis after World War II. But they were disappointed. The world lacked the courage and integrity to close the communist era with a full accounting and condemnation of its crimes. After the change of regime, it still took more than twenty years until, in 2011, the European Union established a day of remembrance to honor the victims of totalitarian dictatorships. Yet, instead of a shared act of bowing our heads in commemoration, we still bow our heads alone, without Western Europe, he warned.

He recalled that Hungarians experienced firsthand the brutal reality of both national socialism and international socialism. Our sovereignty was stripped away, our independence abolished, and a system of terror built on hatred and exclusion was imposed. Neither regime knew restraint, and their bottomless racial and class hatred, their disregard for moral laws, and their cynical, anti-human behavior led to the deaths of tens and hundreds of millions. According to him, 

we Hungarians have an important task and responsibility to open the eyes of Western Europe, because we still remember, we still know the price of freedom.

This hard-won knowledge obliges us to honor the victims and our heroes, to remember and to remind, so that their sacrifice is not in vain but may be elevated into a lasting warning, said Mr. Fekete.

Participants in the commemoration laid wreaths at the memorial.

Commemoration on the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes (Photo: MTI/Peter Lakatos)

Cover photo: State secretary Bence Retvari attends the commemoration (Photo: MTI / Peter Lakatos)