The ceremony was attended by President János Áder, House Speaker László Kövér, members of government and diplomats. Official commemorations of the revolution and freedom fight, quelled by Soviet troops which then occupied the country until 1989, will go on with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech at the House of Terror museum at 3 pm.

Celebrations will be held nationwide and in Hungarian communities around the world. Parts of the Parliament building will be open to visitors free of charge on Monday, including the central hall where the Hungarian royal crown is displayed.

Commemorations will also be held at the Rákoskeresztúr cemetery, in eastern Budapest, where the remains of executed revolutionaries were buried in unmarked graves in 1956.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI Photos: Illyés Tibor and Botár Gergely/kormany.hu