To mark the May 1 expansion of the European Union from 15 to 25 member states, Ambassador Guenter Burghardt, Head of the European Commission’s Delegation in Washington, welcomed the 10 new member states, including Hungary. Flags from each country were added to the EU flag family at the EU Delegation.
In an interview during the celebration Friday, Ambassador Burghardt commented on what he thinks it must mean for Hungary to finally join the EU:
I think that maybe the most important thing is that Hungary has been one of those nations hardest hit by history, and including by recent history: by the consequences of the first World War and the treaties of the 1920’s and the consequences of the second World War. And it shares in a way experiences made by other countries like Germany. And those who have been the victims of the outcome of the World Wars regardless of who started them, they must be most sensitive to the fact that we are now about to construct a new Europe where war will be eliminated as an instrument of policy and where the opening of frontiers is not just a political exercise, it is also an opening of the mindsets of people. And so the Hungarians, who thousand years ago and longer have come from somewhere in Central Asia and settled in Hungary, I think they must now have the feeling that they have really arrived in Europe after all.
Audio and photographs from the event were provided to the HungarianAmerica Foundation by Joe Balintfy (North American Network).
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