Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary László Kövér appeared on the political podcast Fighters’ Hours (Harcosok órája) on Monday, 6 October. This date is notable in Hungarian history: on 6 October 1849, 13 officers of the Hungarian Army were executed by the Habsburgs in Arad, Kingdom of Hungary, for their involvement in the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849. They are known in Hungary as the ‘Thirteen Martyrs of Arad’.
Kövér noted that about half of the martyrs were not ethnic Hungarians but Armenians, Croats, Serbs, and Germans. He said it is worth reflecting on why people of such diverse backgrounds were willing to face the gallows for the freedom of the Hungarian nation. In his view, Hungary’s struggle for independence can be seen as a kind of answer to the challenges Western European countries now face with integration—where, according to Kövér, they have been unable to assimilate large groups of people arriving with different cultural backgrounds.
On the Szőlő Street affair, Kövér said: ‘Let’s not delude ourselves—this wasn’t the work of fools. This poison was brewed in political witch kitchens.’ He then compared the Szőlő Street case to the events of 2006 and the series of Roma murders, saying the current opposition has played this game before. Back in 2006—referencing the Őszöd speech—they knew they had no chance of winning the 2010 democratic elections. According to Kövér, their only option was to provoke unrest and use it to try to eliminate Fidesz, their main political rival, while still in power.
He then went on to argue that the situation today is the reverse: the opposition is now attempting to stir up hatred to mass hysteria and create street conditions in Budapest that would either prevent normal elections from taking place or, whatever the outcome, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the results.
When asked about Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén’s speech in Parliament, Kövér said his first instinct was to deny him the floor because he felt that 'what happened there was so undignified, so disgusting' that it did not deserve to be taken seriously. 'As if they weren’t even there—let’s just get on with the work,' he recalled thinking.
However, he explained that parliamentary rules required him to grant Semjén the floor, and he also saw 'the despair on his face, that it would have been impossible for him not to be able to defend himself.' Finally, after reflecting, Speaker Kövér concluded that the incident went beyond the usual slander that government representatives face daily. 'And then, after taking a breath, I gave him the floor,' he said.
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