Mécs referred to Göncz as “an advocate of the poor, the oppressed and those deprived of their rights”.

Márton Benedek, the late president’s eldest grandson, said that Göncz had worked throughout his life for Hungary’s becoming a westerntype liberal democracy based on freedom, human rights and social justice.

Asztrik Várszegi, Archabbot of Pannonhalma, said Göncz had been a man who loved the people, the Hungarian nation and humankind, a man “filled with a strong desire for freedom”.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán commemorated Göncz at Lendava (Lendva), a border town in north-eastern Slovenia, on Friday evening. “We paid tribute that is due him as the president of all of us, a president of the nation.

We thank him for what he has done for the homeland and for us,” the prime minister said.

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MTI photo: Koszticsák Szilárd