“The memory of President Jimmy Carter will always be cherished in Hungary,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared in a post on the X social media platform on Monday, following the death of the former US president.
“By returning the Holy Crown to the Hungarian people at the end of the 1970s, he gave Hungarians hope in a hopeless time.”
US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance returned the crown of St. István to Hungary on January 6, 1978, at Carter’s behest. Carter passed away on Sunday at the age
of 100.
Orbán also expressed his “sincere condolences to the Carter family and the American people”.
Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony paid tribute to Carter, quoting the late president’s maxim “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.” Karácsony said that during his long life, Carter was a dedicated advocate of human dignity and peace, to whom the Hungarian nation owes much.
President Tamás Sulyok also bade farewell to Carter on social media, writing “God be with you, Mr. President!”