SZEGED, HUNGARY — A memorial dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide during WWI was inaugurated in Szeged, S Hungary, on Saturday.
The cross stone was erected in the Park of Christian Solidarity near Szeged cathedral.
Addressing the ceremony, goodwill ambassador Levon Sarkisian welcomed that a memorial of this kind was unveiled in Hungary. “Although the recent period has witnessed some difficult moments, they have been swept away like ash in the wind,” he said.
Although diplomatic relations between Armenia and Hungary were broken, ties between the two nations date back to centuries, Levon Sargsian said.
The ambassador stressed the need to pay tribute to the 1.5 million victims and fight to prevent similar atrocities anywhere in the world.
Addressing a letter to the participants, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said that the two nations had been bound by centuries-long friendship, arising from a common Christian faith, common fate and the remarkable achievements of Armenians who had settled in Hungary.
Martonyi said that Hungarian-Armenian friendship should be further deepened and cooperation extended in all fields of life, including diplomatic relations.
Despite the regrettable cessation of political contacts, Hungary supports Armenia’s endeavour for integration into Europe and would welcome if talks on the association and free trade agreements were concluded at the Vilnius summit of the Eastern Partnership and the European Union, Martonyi.
Armenia unilaterally suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary last August after an Azeri officer, serving a life sentence for murdering an Armenian officer in Budapest, had been repatriated to his homeland where he had been released.
