Csaba Hende: There Is No Freedom Without Security
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2014. július 8. 14:04“Security is the most important thing, there is no freedom without it, so Hungary and Europe must strengthen their defence budgets”, Minister of Defence Csaba Hende said on Thursday, July 3 in Budapest. At the traditional reception given by the US Embassy Budapest on the occasion of July 4, Independence Day, André Goodfriend, Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the embassy said that the friendship between the Hungarian and the American nations is based, among others, on shared values.
Minister of Defence Csaba Hende and André Goodfriend, Chargé d’affaires a. i. of the US Embassy
Minister Hende delivered a speech at the reception, in which he pointed out that 238 years ago, when the Americans approved the Declaration of Independence – which declares that liberty is the inalienable right of all men –a new country and a new nation was born. This nation is willing to stand up for its own freedom and the freedom of others too. The United States has done a lot for Hungary’s freedom, and Hungary will never forget how much it owed to the United States when the freedom of the Hungarian state and the Hungarians was crushed between two “inhuman and godless" great powers, he said.
Minister Hende reminded his audience that the United States had protected the Holy Crown of Hungary, which symbolizes the unity and freedom of the nation. He also said that Hungary had been a partner of NATO from the moment when it regained freedom, and later become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, whose members pool their resources to safeguard their shared freedom. Military cooperation is one of the most successful areas of Hungarian–US relations, and although the two nations have already gone a long way as allies, the joint missions have not ended yet, the Minister said.
Csaba Hende: Military cooperation is one of the most successful areas of Hungarian–American relations
Minister Hende also noted that since 2010, the Hungarian Defence Forces have received a support worth around USD 35 million (HUF 8 billion) from the United States. In saying thanks for this support, the Minister said that it had also enabled Hungary to contribute more extensively to the joint mission.
André Goodfriend stressed that apart from economic interests and cultural ties, the friendship between the Hungarian and the American nations is also based on shared values for which they have been fighting together for more than 200 years. Among others, these values mean that everybody has the right of freedom of thought and speech, everybody can freely practice their religion and everybody is equal before the law, the chargé d’affaires ad interim of the embassy pointed out. He added that the fact that the two countries can speak openly to each other is a proof of mature relationship.
André Goodfriend: apart from economic interests and cultural ties, the friendship between the Hungarian and the American nations is also based on shared values
The diplomat said that the soldiers who had fought for American independence had arrived from many countries and included Hungarians as well.
The reception at the US Ambassadorial Residence was attended by, among others, Minister of the Interior Sándor Pintér and several members of the diplomatic corps.
US and Hungarian soldiers at the reception held to celebrate Independence Day, the national day of the United States at the US Embassy in Budapest
Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák (MTI)
