Hungarian Premier Looks Ahead to "21st Century of Hope"

Jan 2, 2001 -- (BBC Monitoring) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has referred to the 21st century as one of hope and said that the outlines of the future are emerging more clearly than before.

  Orban, who was speaking at a ceremony to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the coronation of St Stephen, said that the "20th century of tribulations" nonetheless contained lessons which were worthwhile carrying into the future, among them the fact that the Hungarians must trust themselves alone and not believe in an easy life. The following is the text of the speech by Orban, broadcast live by Hungarian Duna TV on 1 January:

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has referred to the 21st century as one of hope and said that the outlines of the future are emerging more clearly than before. Orban, who was speaking at a ceremony to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the coronation of St Stephen, said that the "20th century of tribulations" nonetheless contained lessons which were worthwhile carrying into the future, among them the fact that the Hungarians must trust themselves alone and not believe in an easy life. The following is the text of the speech by Orban, broadcast live by Hungarian Duna TV on 1 January:

[Orban] I greet you with respect, those who have accepted the invitation and are celebrating with me here, and I also greet those who are following the event on radio or television.

My dear friends: We have assembled here because today is the first day of the new century. The jubilee year ended at midnight last night around the world, but you know that everything in our country is different. We are just getting into the swing of things, since the Hungarian millennium will end on 20 August 2001, provided that the Hungarians wish to stop the celebrations.

We have experienced uplifting and fine moments together; since time immemorial there has not been such a fine and large celebration in Hungary. This is how it should be, since we have prepared for these celebrations over a period of 1,000 years. You know that I have had to attend many celebrations in my lifetime of, gradually, 40 years, but this millennium was entirely different no matter which place we are talking about, even in the smallest villages. My impression was that everyone felt that it was their own personal celebration, and since everyone sincerely felt it to be their own, it was elevated into being our collective celebration and a truly great national celebration.

My dear friends, Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen: We reached a high point last night.
We worked a lot to get there. New prospects are opening in front of us today, as if the outlines of the future were emerging more clearly. Nonetheless those of us who are present came here today to the ancient crown of King Stephen. We came here to give thanks to our predecessors, our great-grandparents, our grandparents and our parents, since we can thank them that we are here now.

Yesterday we gave a departing look at the 20th century. We had many problems in that 20th century, but it was also our life. No matter how many problems it let loose on us, it contained a piece of our soul. This century which is sinking below the horizon also left many valuable experiences for us. It is worthwhile for us to take these experiences along to this [new] century where we hope for a happier life for all Hungarian families.

We Hungarians have been able to learn from the troubles, from the problems befalling us, and we are able to create opportunities. This is the main skill. That is why I am confident that out of the 20th century of tribulations we will be able to build the 21st century of hope.

We have also learnt that the more we do, the more we are capable of doing. Each Hungarian has also learnt that our faith must be placed in ourselves and not in an easy life.

On Hungarian Television last night, a reporter asked a young person about how he thought of the future. The young person - who must have been in his teens - said in reply to the question that the 21st century would be his century, that is the century of his generation. When I heard this last night, I thought of the advice given by the father of Istvan Szechenyi [19th century Hungarian reformer], Ferenc Szechenyi, which he passed on to the greatest Hungarian [Istvan Szechenyi], and which also contains the following idea: A person is like a book. Youth is the introduction. If it is written well, we can expect a good author.

In this belief, in the 21st century of hope I wish all of you a happy family, an understanding partner, good neighbors and work which is beneficial, has meaning and bears fruit. God bless all the Hungarians of the world. [applause]

Source: Duna TV satellite service, Budapest, in Hungarian 1419 GMT 1 Jan 01

(C) 2001 BBC Monitoring