Monument in memory of Hungarian military inaugurated in Moldovan capital

Chisinau, 3 July /MOLDPRES/ -  A ceremony on inauguration and unveiling of a monument "In memory of War Prisoners and Civilian Victims dead in Soviet captivity in Moldova in 1945-1948," took place at the Eternitate "(Eternity) memorial venue today. 

Attending the event were Hungarian National Defence Minister Csaba Hende, Moldovan Defence Minister Viorel Cibotaru, Hungarian Ambassador to Moldova Matyas Szilagyi, as well as other officials. 

In his speech, Hungarian Ambassador in Chisinau Matyas Szilagyi said that the inauguration of this monument symbolized the traditional historical relations between the two countries. The Hungarian diplomat thanked colonels Petru Costin and Vitalie Ciobanu, who contributed to the discovering of the names of the Hungarian civilians dead in Moldova.

Hungarian National Defence Minister Csaba Hende, in his speech, stressed that the Romans had used to say that one if wanted peace, he/she should prepare for war. "We changed  this phrase as follows: if you want peace, remember war. We must remember that, by the death of these people, a part of us died. The servicemen who died on the banks of Don, Volga, Oder or here, in Chisinau, no matter on whose side they were fighting, are messengers of peace," the Hungarian official said.

For his part, Moldovan Defence Minister Viorel Cibotaru said that the visit by Minister Csaba Hende was of special historical importance, as the memory of Hungarian soldiers dead following the World  War II was immortalized at the Eternity memorial venue today, with joint efforts of Hungary's diplomatic representation and the colleagues of the Hungarian National Defence Ministry.  

"Moldova and Hungary share high human values. In the name of these ideals, our states on 2 march 1998 signed inter-governmental agreements on the protection and immortalizing the memory of the dead servicemen and civilian victims, as well as the status of graves. Due to joint efforts, we have managed to discover the bones of the dead on the present territory of Moldova," Cibotaru said.      

According to the Moldovan defence minister, the mortal remains were exhumed and re-buried in their native country. A monument to Moldovan servicemen, due to be set in Hungary, is designed at present. "Thanks to a fruitful bilateral cooperation, a collection of documents with the names of the then times' victims is under publication," Viorel Cibotaru said.

Contacted by MOLDPRES, Hungarian National Defence Minister Csaba Hende said that more than 6,000 Hungarian military and civilians had died on the territory of Moldova. Also, several thousands of Moldovans died in Hungary.

(Reporter N. Roibu, editor A. Raileanu)