Kissinger was the keynote speaker at a commemorative talk on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution. The talk was orgainsed by the Permanent Mission of Hungary and held in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium.
In his speech, Kissinger called the revolution an ?extraordinary event?, one which started as a peaceful protest by students, but escalated into an armed revolution. As the revolutionaries placed themselves hopelessly in front of Soviet tanks, the West looked on, knowing that to overturn the regime would require the use of nuclear weapons.
Kissinger said the revolution was extraordinary because its leaders did not intend to start a revolution. But the Hungarian people were compelled otherwise. The Hungarians fought against the Soviets for their freedom and to protect civilization, he said.
?The Hungarian revolutionaries changed the history of Europe,? Kissinger said. Leaders in the communist bloc saw they ?must turn to the national soul? to remain in power, while politicians in the West saw the chance for a new future and took a new direction in the debate over intervening in the region.
Gábor Bródi, Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations, delivered a greeting from the President of the Republic László Sólyom, then he thanked all of those countries, among them the United States, which offered new homes to the 200,000 Hungarians who fled the country because of the revolution.
The bravery of those freedom fighters changed the view of communism for an entire generation, Bródi said. They delivered the message that the desire for freedom felt by the people of Central and Eastern Europe could not be suppressed forever.
Along with the UN ambassadors and diplomats attending the event was the deputy-speaker of the Hungarian Parliament László Mandur, who recognised Hungarian-American ?56ers at a ceremony the previous day.
After the talk on Monday, an exhibition of photographs, entitled ?1956 The Hope of Freedom ? the Hungarian Revolution? opened in the UN building?s ground floor atrium.
Source: Múlt-kor / Hungarian Press Agency (MTI)
