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)

Speaking at the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, at the Memento 1945–56 memorial in Students’ Park, Bence Retvari - the interior ministry's parliamentary state secretary -  emphasized that what all totalitarian dictatorships have in common is that they deny the sovereignty of nations, the importance of families, and human dignity, and oppose Christianity.

Bence Retvari at the commemoration marking the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes (Photo: MTI/Peter Lakatos)

The state secretary stressed that when someone denies the importance of the family, promotes internationalism instead of national self-determination, and seeks to replace Christianity — central to European identity — with a newly constructed ideology, this must be seen as a danger. Protecting sovereignty, the family, and Christianity is vital. Both of the twentieth century’s authoritarian regimes were built on hatred — whether racial or class-based, he added.

The Day of Remembrance May Reduce Europe’s Double Standards

Mr. Retvari reminded the audience that the European Union adopted in 2011 — during Hungary’s first EU presidency — the resolution declaring August 23 as the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes. It was on this day in 1939 that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed. In other words, it was not until 2011 that there was an EU-level day of remembrance for the millions who were murdered, imprisoned, or deprived of their future under communist ideology. He recalled that Stalin’s Soviet Union and Hitler’s Nazi Germany were allies at the start of the war, dismantling the independence of sovereign states together, and that after the pact was signed, the two dictators were ideologically aligned.

The commemoration is especially important for those living in Central and Eastern Europe because it may help reduce double standards within Europe.

In other words: it is important that not only Hungarians, Poles, and Lithuanians remember the era of communism, but that it become part of all of Europe’s history.

– “Yet we continue to feel that we must know the tragedies of Western Europe, while Western Europe does not appear to feel obligated to learn about the tragedies of Eastern Europe and to share in paying tribute to its victims. The day of remembrance therefore also serves to remind Western European countries to take into account the historical experiences, needs, and expectations of Eastern European countries,” he said.

“Never again should murderous ideologies be allowed to take control in Europe, disregarding human dignity and the sovereignty of nations. We believe in a Europe where no one attacks the concept of family or the nation, and where no one seeks to diminish their value,

– Mr. Retvari emphasized.

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)