2023-03-16

The speech of Her Excellency Ambassador Pach - Our Tampines Hub, March 15 2023

 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentleman

Tisztelt Honfitársaim

I strongly believe that during today’s troubling times it is important to support peace and strengthen people-to people relations. Today we commemorate the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, when Hungarians stood up against an oppressive regime. On March 15, 1848 the Hungarian Revolution broke out against the absolutist rule of the Habsburg Monarchy.

Already in 1848 the 3 main driving principles of the revolution were peace, liberty and concord. Eternal values which we need today more than ever.

The war in Ukraine has been raging for over a year now, and we can still not see the end of it. Since we have a large Hungarian minority living in Transcarpathia, it’s also Hungarians living in Ukraine, who are dying in this war and it is deeply moving to see all the victims, the families torn apart, the devastation of their future and the sheer despair.
Hungary is firmly advocating that Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty cannot be called into question, and war criminals deserve to be punished, but being a neighbouring country, we also strongly support cease-fire and peace talks to start as soon as possible.

In this regard we share common values with Singapore such as our commitment for peace, stability and rules-based multilateral order. The relations between our two countries are strong and based on a mutual trust which we highly value.

As Singapore we are an open and export-oriented economy with a strong emphasis on innovation and knowledge-based technologies. The links between our two countries are not only strengthened by flourishing business relations but also due to the lively people-to-people interactions.

And to further enhance cultural cooperation I believe movies are a great choice.

Especially the movie which we will see tonight which gives us insight into the historical times when the world was divided between East and West and how this division and animosity reflected on the every day life of the people.

Today in a globalized world we tend to forget how a divided world is affecting our everyday life.

Hungary’s historical experience shows that a blocs-based world order undermines the sovereignty of small states like Hungary and Singapore and results in the suffering of our nations. Therefore instead of disconnecting and decoupling Hungary’s interest is to increase connectivity,
Learning from our history Hungary will always stand on the side of international cooperation as this follows the country’s history, geography, and culture.

With this in mind I’m proud to close this year’s Hungarian Film Festival in Singapore organised by our embassy in partnership with Our Tampines Hub and we are looking forward to welcoming you again next year!

Last but not least, please allow me to address my fellow Hungarians briefly in our own mother tongue:

Tisztelt magyar honfitársaim!

Nagy öröm számomra, hogy közel 10 ezer kilométerre Magyarországtól, Szingapúrban is lehetőségünk nyílik megemlékezni az 1848–49-es forradalom és szabadságharc hőseiről és immár a második magyar filmfesztivált tudtuk megrendezni, ami várhatóan most már egy évente ismétlődő esemény lesz így március 15-én.
A világban zajló eseményeket látva, azt gondolom hogy a 48-as forradalmárok és szabadságharcosok hazaszeretete, bátorsága, önfeláldozása ma is jó példaként kell, hogy mindenki előtt lebegjen és a jelen körülmények között kiemelten fontos, hogy megőrizzük Magyarország békéjét és biztonságát.

Örülük, hogy együtt lehetünk ma este és jó szórakozást kívánok mindannyiuknak!

Let me close my remarks with big thank you once again to our Singaporean partners especially to Our Tampines Hub for their continuous support and for all of you who came tonight to watch the film!

Let’s explore Hungary in Motion and see you next year!