Latest news with #Semjén
Budapest Times
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
President Sulyok: We created the possibility of uniting Hungarians across the borders
President Tamás Sulyok has highlighted how, fifteen years ago, 'we created the possibility of uniting Hungarians across the borders'. Speaking in parliament on the occasion of the oath-taking ceremony of new Hungarian citizens, the president said the National Assembly sworn in in 2010 granted rights to those who were entitled to them by default, but those rights had been taken away from them by Hungary's turbulent history. 'In 2010, we came to a point where the hands reaching out for unity were able to hold each other, and with this, the nation became one not only in the spiritual, intellectual and cultural sense, but also in terms of public law,' President Sulyok said. 'Every time one of our compatriots takes the oath of citizenship, it is a celebration, a celebration for the entire nation,' the president said at the 15th anniversary event. Addressing participants at the event, Deputy Prime Minister for national policy Zsolt Semjén said, 'there are no category A and category B citizens, there is only one Hungarian nation and one Hungarian citizenship'. Deputy PM Semjén said the Hungarian National Assembly embodied the political will of all Hungarians. Not only that of those living in Hungary, not only that of Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin, but also of those living anywhere in the world, he said. This parliament is the parliament of all Hungarians, regardless of where history has taken us, Semjén added.
Budapest Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Deputy PM: Day of Pope Francis's funeral will be a national day of mourning
The day of mourning will "express the nation's gratitude for the Holy Father and the nation's grief", the deputy prime minister said. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén announced on Monday that the government intends to declare the day of Pope Francis's funeral a national day of mourning. The day of mourning will 'express the nation's gratitude for the Holy Father and the nation's grief', the deputy prime minister said. Deputy PM Semjén, who also leads the co-ruling Christian Democrats, said he was 'shocked to learn of the news of the Holy Father's death'. He said 'all Hungarians' were grateful to the pope, who called on Hungarians three times by visiting the 'national shrine of Csiksomlyo' during his visit to Transylvania before attending the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest and then making an apostolic visit to Hungary. Deputy PM Semjén said the Holy Father 'was rightly called a man of peace', adding that the pope supported peace 'in every way', arguing that diplomacy rather than weapons should take hold of events. The deputy PM also said the pope and the Hungarian people had a special relationship and 'a deep connection'. Having worked among Hungarian nuns in Argentina, whenever he met a Hungarian, the pontiff would always say 'God bless you!' in Hungarian, Semjén noted.
