A memorial dedicated to victims of the 1932-1933 famine-genocide in Ukraine (Holodomor) was inaugurated by foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar in Szeged, in southern Hungary, on Friday.

Magyar called the Holodomor an extreme example of the many hardships Ukraine had to endure in the past century, with the Soviets trying to break its people by means of a man-made famine in 1932-1933. It was no accident that Stalin saw Ukrainians as a chief enemy, considering that they were a proud and freedom-loving nation that posed a threat to the Soviet Union, he said adding that the Soviets wanted to destroy the main representatives of Ukraine’s national consciousness: its independent peasantry.

Hungary has always been supportive of Ukraine, and promotes the building of a nation if it is done with respect to the rights of others and not against them, Magyar said. History has shown that the people of Ukraine have been strong enough not to turn against others when they wanted to strengthen their national self-consciousness, he said.

Hungary continues to resolutely stand up for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, the state secretary said.

Bishop of Szeged-Csanád László Kiss-Rigó said the grassy area around the Votive church of Szeged had been turned into a park of Christian solidarity over the recent years, with memorials dedicated to the victims of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, the Katyn tragedies, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Gulag and now the Holodomor.

via MTI

featured photo by Tibor Rosta/MTI