The Prime Minister reminded that when asked what gives higher meaning to finite life and to the homeland, Petőfi provided the answer: ‘Stand up, Hungarian! Shall we be slaves or free? Long live the free and independent Hungary!’

Although the revolution and freedom fight was crushed, 15 March is not a day of mourning, but of delayed victory. While the defeat of the Revolution and Freedom Fight was followed by ruthless retaliation and even more oppression, eventually the Habsburg Empire was forced to reform and bow to many of the demands of the revolutionaries.

‘Slovakia has turned thirty years old. Whether the past three decades can be considered a success story remains an open question. The Slovak nation achieved the independence it had always wanted.’

Bosnia and Herzegovina is celebrating its 31st anniversary on 1 March, while the President of the country’s autonomous unit Republika Srpska is denying the genocide that happened during the Bosnian War.

As colonel commandant, Kováts’s main mission was to train a cavalry in the tradition of Hungarian hussar tactics. Within months, the legion had become the best-trained and most reputable cavalry unit fighting in the Continental Army.

Today marks the 246th anniversary of American colonists declaring their independence from the British Crown, the day when, as an independent and sovereign nation, the United States of America proclaimed liberty, justice, and freedom for all.

There are two peoples, the Americans and the Hungarians, who strove for some of that nobility and righteousness, and thus can be examples for those striving for the same in the present.