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Presidents of the Republic and your Wives, House Speaker, Dear János Martonyi and Rozál Rábai, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,
I learned the following wisdom from János Martonyi: “The first sign of mental decline is when someone says how long he’s been doing something.” I can translate this into my own language: “Routine kills”. This is the difference between the mindset of a lawyer and a politician in the Buda Castle District, but the point is the same. This idea from János eventually became one of the founding principles of Fidesz. The fact that someone has been doing something for a long time is not in itself an argument. I mention this also because this is the twentieth year in a row that we have been awarding the Civic Hungary Award. But the value of the prize is not determined by the number of years. Traditions are important, but what this prize means here and now is even more important. And here and now, Dear Friends, we are doing nothing less than finally honouring someone without whom we would not be here today: the Foundation for a Civic Hungary would not be here, the audience would not be here, and the successes of the Hungarian Right over the last thirty years would certainly not have happened. Thirty years ago was 1994. That was the year in which we received the worst defeat in our history. The Hungarian Right was in pieces. Three small parties with a few per cent each sat in Parliament, opposite a monstrous coalition between the Socialists and the Liberals who had joined them. There was the MDF, orphaned after the death of József Antall, there were the Christian Democrats, and there were we young democrats, not exactly in the brightest condition. It was clear that individually we were weak, and that we had to forge ourselves into a united front. I remember several of us sitting down in a small pub not far from Batthyány Square with János Martonyi, to discuss where to go next. The rest is history. The Right came together, won the following election, and is still the leading force in Hungary. But something else happened that day – and it was mainly thanks to János. He told us fledgling politicians that the task that faced us was much bigger than simply joining forces. We would have to build a civic Hungary, we would have to transform Hungarian public life, and we would have to cleanse the country of the ingrained communist tendencies that would keep dragging it back into the swamp of the Left. He said that we would have to build not only a party, but also a community: a community that would be able to serve as a stable foundation for a new political era. In this realisation, János Martonyi was ahead of his time. What János said then was novel is now a commonplace idea. Winning elections is one thing, but the real task is changing the political culture. We know the rest of the story. First the Hungarian Association for Civic Cooperation was founded, then the Foundation for a Civic Hungary, later the Civic Circles, and so on and so on. In 1998 we only won the election; thanks to the philosophy and work of János, after 2010 we changed the culture. The country truly threw off the old ones ingrained socialist doctrines, we transformed the institutions, we gave Hungary a new constitution, and we built a civic Hungary. Thank you, János Martonyi!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
János Martonyi comes from a true, highly educated family, one of the great Szeged legal dynasties, like the Trócsányi and Sulyok families. Members of such families were severely tested by the 20th century. The ravages of communism e eliminated the very environment that makes possible such a patriotic way of life, taking responsibility for oneself and one’s community. Back then the communists wanted to make Hungarians believe that we were incapable of organising our own lives, of making headway with talent and hard work, and that there was no point in taking responsibility for our families and for ourselves. The ideas they wanted to force down our throats were that the nation has no value, that there is no God, and that the homeland – like everything else – is for sale. In this respect these old communists are not so different from today’s progressive liberals – but that is a subject for another speech. During the dark years of communist rule it was families like the Martonyi family who preserved civic ideals. János told me how, even during the darkest years of dictatorship, his father had seen it as important to learn Western languages, how one had to avoid sinking into the dictatorship’s blinkered worldview, and how one had to follow world events even from behind the Iron Curtain. The instincts of citizenship needed to be preserved, because they would be in great demand if there was ever to be a free Hungary. This proved to be so true that when the substructure needed to be created for the Foundation for a Civic Hungary and the Hungarian Civic Cooperation Association, we also reached back to these instincts.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear János,
But, if they are Hungarians, the intellectuals of whatever era have another burden, which has nothing to do with communism: however much they may wish to, Hungarians cannot avoid public life; Hungarians are known for the need to enter the political arena for their principles and ideals. To assert your principles and values, you have to fight for them. This was the destiny that János Martonyi could not avoid. I am well aware that, although his heart was always drawn to the lecture theatre and to a career in the law, in international law, from time to time politics found him – to our great good fortune. This is how he first became a state secretary in the Antall government, and then Foreign Minister in the Fidesz government. As a politician, as Foreign Minister, he fought for the values and principles he had brought from his home life. He put instincts that were open to the civic world at the service of his country. He was convinced that the nation and Europeanism were not only compatible, but also conditional on each other. And although we had debates about where the boundaries between the two are, and how they can be reconciled, somehow we always managed to overcome these difficulties. This task is not easy. Its difficulty is illustrated by the fact that once a French ambassador serving here discovered that János’s birthplace was Kolozsvár/Cluj. Encouraged by this, the ambassador asked him if he was a member of the Romanian nation. The correct answer to this did not require a doctoral dissertation, but instead a knowledge of the more emphatic vernacular expressions, yet synthesising national identity and Europeanism is a much more difficult intellectual task here in Central Europe. For this the vernacular is not enough, and indeed a dissertation will not suffice; it demands a lifetime’s work. And János Martonyi has not shied away from this. Throughout his life he has argued that the essence of European integration is the maintenance of national identity, and therefore integration is impossible without the strengthening of nations. He made this doctrine Hungary’s official policy for Europe. His work is inseparable from the nation-building of István Széchenyi and Gyula Andrássy; he marked out Hungary’s place in the world, and brought Hungary – which had been marginalised – back to the ranks of the cultivated and respected nations. As Foreign Minister he made an indelible contribution to Hungary’s accession to the EU and its integration into the West. It was he who oversaw our country’s first EU Presidency, while always finding time for his heartfelt passion for international law and teaching. His work is not only an example to us, but also a challenge. After János Martonyi, this became the benchmark. I am convinced that the best possible recipient of today’s award is János Martonyi, who has done the most that is possible to make Hungary a civic, sovereign country, respected in the world.
Thank you for this!
