In an open letter sent to MTI, Bajnai praised Áder’s speech delivered at March of the Living commemorations in Auschwitz on Monday as words spoken by a president who was a true European expressing the unity of the nation. Bajnai asked Áder to represent the same position in connection with the government’s plans to set up a monument in central Budapest, which he said was completely out of line with the ideas expressed by Áder.

Bajnai, a former prime minister, said the monument denies what Áder had commemorated solemnly on Monday: “the Hungarian state’s condoning participation in the murder of hundreds of thousands of fellow Hungarians”.

Several civil groups and parties of the leftist opposition have sharply criticised the monument initiative, and said that the government was aiming to diminish the Hungarian state’s responsibility for the Holocaust. The structure is scheduled to be completed by May 31.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI photo: Bruzák Noémi