• Home
• Channel: Current Affairs
• St. Stephen's Legacy: Patriotic Speech Celebrates 1023rd Birth Anniversary of Hungarian State

St. Stephen's Legacy: Patriotic Speech Celebrates 1023rd Birth Anniversary of Hungarian State

• 21 Aug 2023 7:48 AM
• Hungary Matters

Preserving the legacy of King St. Stephen “means protecting freedom and Europe’s traditional values and promoting national sovereignty,” Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, told a celebration on Friday, ahead of Hungary’s August 20 national holiday.

Marking the “1023rd birth anniversary of the Hungarian state”, Gulyás called on Hungarians to show gratitude for “40 lifespans of work and service through which the nation has survived over the centuries”.

“We must study the path behind us so that we do not lose the way ahead,” he said. Gulyás also highlighted the work of St. Stephen in “choosing Christianity and the West of those times”.

He added, however, that “after a thousand years the situation in Europe is such that there is no longer a path to western Europe through Christianity.”

“Whatever has been shared in European faith, culture and thinking has been rejected, forgotten and left behind by western Europe,” he said, adding that Christianity had been “banned from society’s basic principles, laws and politics, allowing an ideology to take over questioning, rejecting and removing all European values.”

At the ceremony, Gulyás, on behalf of President Katalin Novák, handed over the Order of Merit of Hungary, Commander’s Cross, to István Zsolt Gyulai, Olympic and world champion kayaker, head of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, as well as Gabriella Vukovich, retired head of the Central Statistical Office.

• How does this content make you feel?
• I love it
• I like it
• I dislike it

• St. Stephen Patriotic Speech Hungarian State

XpatLoop Media Partner

Hungary Matters

Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

Explore More Reports

Updated: 'Budapest Will Not Kneel', Says Mayor to Gov't

• 4 Dec 2025 12:00 PM

At a "Budapest Pride March 2.0" rally outside the Carmelite Monastery, the prime minister's office, Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest, vowed the city would "not kneel", as he handed the City Assembly's resolution on its "real financial crisis" to a government representative.



Watch: Who is Péter Magyar? What Does His Tisza Party Stand For? And Can Magyar beat Orbán?

• 28 Nov 2025 12:49 PM

Magyar is the most visible new face on Hungary’s political stage — a former Fidesz insider who turned into a high-profile opposition leader almost overnight. He now accuses the government of nepotism, misusing EU funds, and using state media for propaganda, advocating for policies to combat corruption and restore democratic institutions.



'Budapest Pride 2.0' on Monday at Clark Adam Square Called for by Mayor

• 28 Nov 2025 8:34 AM

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony announced on Thursday that he had convened an extraordinary assembly for Monday to reaffirm the "true financial situation" of the municipality. The decision will later be delivered to the Prime Minister’s Office in Buda Castle during a demonstration, he told a press conference.



Hungary Vetoes EU Higher Education Strategy

• 28 Nov 2025 8:07 AM

Hungary has vetoed the European Union's four-year higher education strategy, Balazs Hanko, the minister of culture and innovation, said in Brussels on Thursday, adding that Hungary made clear that only once Hungarian students are restored their rightful access to the Erasmus programme will Hungary approve the higher education strategy.