Historian József Antall (1932-1993) served as the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of Hungary after the fall of communism from May 23rd,  1990 until his death on December 12th, 1993.

“It was quite the miracle that he was able to hold together his coalition cabinet, launched the country’s economic transition, avoided financial collapse and had the strength to reject George Soros’s attempts to rob the country,” PM Orbán said at a commemorative conference in Budapest.

L to R: Minister of Human Capacities Miklós Kásler, former Prime Minister Péter Boross and Klára Antall, the former Prime Minister’s widow at the commemorative conference in Budapest (image: MTI/Tibor Illyés)

Antall’s main legacy is that despite the unfavorable circumstances he remained true to his goal of leading Hungary back to its former self, Orbán said. He added that while in 1990 the country was able to obtain a majority against the Communists, it was unable to radically depart from it. A total departure should have been marked by a new Constitution ushering in a national era.

It took a long fight until the conservative government elected in 2010 was finally able to take that step, he said.

Title image: József Antall (MTI archive/Attila Kovács)