Condolence message of President Juncker on the passing away of Árpád Göncz, former President of the Republic of Hungary

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC) i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 6 oktober 2015.

I am proud to say that I have had the good fortune of meeting him on many occasions, and the honour of having been able to call him a friend.

Our paths crossed several times, just after the end of communist rule in Hungary. Árpád Göncz was a steadfast and admirable figure in the political landscape, not just in Hungary but in Europe as well.

Árpád Göncz helped to make sure that the transition to democracy was a peaceful one, guided by the same innate sense of justice that inspired his struggle against the totalitarian dictatorships that blighted the Twentieth Century.

During the Second World War he joined the resistance against the Nazis, and helped to save Jews. Similarly, he opposed communist dictatorship, and was imprisoned for his part in the 1956 revolution against Soviet rule. After he was freed in 1963 he became a dissident and a beautiful and hugely accomplished writer.

I am not surprised that Árpád Gönz was a genuinely popular politician in Hungary. He was a man of democracy, who helped steer Hungary away from dictatorship. Men like Árpád rarely come along in the history of a nation, or even a continent. He was a man who lived by the strength of his moral convictions and remains to this day a source of inspiration.

He was a true European, who knew that the destiny of his country lay within Europe, and in respect for democracy and the rule of law.

My thoughts are with his family at this time."

STATEMENT/15/5788

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