The personal example of Imre Thököly highlights the indivisibility of the past of Hungarians and Slovaks, said Deputy Minister Levente Magyar in Késmár in the highlands, where he greeted the ceremonial inauguration of the equestrian statue of Prince Imre Thököly on Monday.

The deputy minister spoke about the common history of Hungarians and Slovaks, their common trials, struggles and shared destiny in front of the statue placed in the Castle Square in the eastern Slovakian city. He called the unveiling of the statue a "really important moment" in building Slovak-Hungarian friendship.

"This statue inauguration most clearly expresses the inseparable bond between Hungarians and Slovaks"

Levente Magyar said. Describing the more than a thousand-year-old Hungarian kingdom as the common homeland of Hungarians, Slovaks and other nationalities, he pointed out: the Hungarian and Slovak people fought shoulder to shoulder throughout their entire history against common enemies, and in the end all the conquerors broke into the love of freedom of the people living here. .

"It may be later than before, but the world empires that sought to subjugate us were destroyed one by one, and we are here as independent, growing and proud nations," explained Levente Magyar.

He reminded: Imre Thököly was born in a region with a Slovak majority, a significant part of his armies were Slovaks.

He added: the Hungarian and Slovak serfs, whose homes were overturned by the imperial troops, felt the same bitterness. "Even towards the end of the 17th century, the desire for a peaceful and free life united us, Hungarians and Slovaks, in the Kuruc idea, under the leadership of Thököly," declared Magyar Levente. He pointed out:

The personal example of Imre Thököly sheds light on the indivisibility of the past of Hungarians and Slovaks, and it must be recognized that the shared destiny based on respect for the other is a much greater force than anything that can ever separate us.

"Now, when war is raging next door, perhaps we will be able to better appreciate peace and how much sacrifice our predecessors made by taking up their armed struggle, which gave us the privilege that today we have to protect our freedom not at the cost of bloodshed," he said. Hungarian Levente.
The bronze equestrian statue of Prince Imre Thököly was made by the Consulate General of Hungary in Kassa in accordance with the agreement, and the city of Késmárk undertook to make the pedestal of the statue and clean up the surroundings of the work of art.

After the unveiling of the statue, Levente Magyar visited the Thököly exhibition in the exhibition hall of the Késmárk castle, then in the castle courtyard he viewed the mobile kitchen of the Zoltán Fábry Vocational High School purchased with the support of the Hungarian government, and finally laid a wreath at the grave of Imre Thököly in the local Lutheran church.

MTI

Cover photo: Equestrian statue of Prince Imre Thököly at its inauguration in Késmárk in the highlands on March 28, 2022.
MTI/Péter Komka