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The Deputy State Secretary was also speaking on the occasion of the feast of King St Stephen, the founder of the state, at Dósa Nádor Square.
The municipality organised a commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony on the 20th of August at noon on Dósa Nádor Square, following the traditional carnival parade.
The wreath-laying ceremony was addressed by Deputy State Secretary Máté Vincze. In his speech, the politician recalled that ” it has been more than a millennium since a princely child was born in a troubled, restless and turbulent world. Václav (Vajk), who, like his father Prince Géza (Géza fejedelem), was christened Stephen and inherited a history-making responsibility, a vision for the survival and future of a people”. Máté Vincze also said that the life’s work of the holy king was monumental on a historical scale. The historical scale is also indicated by the fact that St Stephen was the first secular ruler in the world to be canonised not for his martyrdom but for his state-organising activities. He emphasised that he was also the first to be venerated as a saint by both the Catholic and the Greek Orthodox Churches.
“Its internal politics and diplomacy have created a strong, proud, sovereign European state. A state that did not plan a short-lived survival. It is not an exaggeration to say that the fact that we speak Hungarian here and that Hungarian has remained the dominant language in the Carpathian Basin, that we have survived the occupation of Tatars, Turks, Germans and the Soviets, is thanks to St. Stephen,” Máté Vincze said. He also mentioned that Stephen followed the principle of prudent, vigilant adaptation “for the sake of peace and prosperity, he ordered us to adopt all the European achievements, customs and ideas of his time, which helped to consolidate the position of the new country on the continent”. He highlighted that Stephen also acknowledged that all this could not mean giving up.
“It must not mean uprooting our ancient roots, denying our culture and traditions because only a people with a strong identity, self-identity and self-awareness can have a future. It has united the country in Christianity, but it has also preserved its sovereignty”. As the Deputy Secretary of State recalled, St Stephen tried to stay out of the major conflicts of Central Europe, but he was strong in the face of external forces attacking the country. It opened up the pilgrim and trade route to the Holy Land, which, in addition to the economic benefits, boosted the country’s reputation, in today’s terms, its soft power diplomatic strength. He built an open, economically dominant empire, where East, West and South trade met. The speaker Máté Vincze stressed that “the ability to survive in the legacy of Saint Stephen is more than survival. It is a cycle of building in good times and growing stronger after bad. It is no wonder that the 20th of August is one of our oldest holidays, it was ordered by King Saint Lazarus (Szent László király) in 1083, on the occasion of the canonisation of the founding monarch. Many people have tried to take away, empty out and relativise this feast day, only to make it even more present in everyday life in the 21st century. Saint Stephen’s values have triumphed over world conflagrations, oppressive empires and crises, and saved our country from ruin”.
He also spoke of the statue in the square, which depicts a confident St Stephen realising his life’s work. As he said in his speech, “it is symbolic that this statue is in Debrecen.
In the city that Endre Ady called the city of permanence, referring to the fact that it bears the sacred Stephen value of survival. Debrecen is a confident and strong city. Iconically, when the sovereignty and survival of the Hungarian people was threatened by external powers, Debrecen was always a bastion of revolution, not infrequently functioning as the capital”.
The State Secretary listed the Bocskai War of Independence, the Rákóczi War of Independence, 1848 and the dethronement of the Habsburg dynasty, and the 1956 revolution, all very Hungarian and at the same time very Debrecen history, “It is not by chance that Jókai writes that Debrecen is the centre of the Hungarian people (…) itself is a Hungary in miniature.” The Deputy State Secretary also spoke about the present. As he said, “Debrecen is not only a role model in times of struggle and hardship. In the past peaceful decades, the city government has carried out unprecedented construction work. Countless jobs, innovative investments, cultural renewal, fantastic university and educational developments, and extensive Carpatho-Basin and international connections characterise the city”. He mentioned the treasures of the Déri Museum, which travels and fascinates the world, and the Modem exhibitions, the two theatre buildings and the flower carnival, which has grown into a week-long cavalcade.
“St Stephen is more than a lesson in history books. We must live his work in our daily lives, in our vocation and pass it on to future generations. The city of Debrecen and the people of Debrecen feel the weight and the sustaining power of this task,” we heard Máté Vincze who said that “ the dynamics of Debrecen’s development to this day are due to the fact that the people living here have incorporated the most important teaching of the founder of the state into their lives, the idea of the balance between preserving and receiving values. Debrecen is an active and decisive shaper of Hungarian history, a flag bearer of our fate-transforming struggles and ideals”. The Deputy State Secretary highlighted that the statue of the holy king looks to a strong, purposeful, boldly dreaming and dynamically developing city, an economic, intellectual and cultural citadel, a cohesive community.
The Debrecen Garrison Orchestra, folk singer, folk musician and the Young Master of Folk Art Lilla Tóth, and poet János Lackfi performed at the event.
Source:debrecen.hu
