ЈП Пошта Србије

9/25/2023

Istvan Pasztor's address on two centuries since the birth of Sandor Petofi

"Dear Mr. Đorđević, I want to primarily thank you, not only for the ten years of friendship, openness, help, regardless of the position you were in, but also for the opportunity presented today on this special occasion. Your idea was that the promotion of this postage stamp should be held here, in this nationally respectable institution, which is celebrating its hundred years of existence this year. I think that if we can contribute merely a fraction to that celebration, then this postage stamp is certainly worthy of that task. I want to tell you that all of us who are present here today are Hungarians who grew up to a greater or lesser extent on the life example and work of Sándor Petőfi, but as we heard from Mr. Đorđević this is not only the case with those of Hungarian origin. We Hungarians grew up on his poems and we grew up on his example of patriotism, revolutionism, advocacy for freedom, advocacy for sovereignty, advocacy for respect among people, advocacy to the extent that at the age of 26 he gave his life for those convictions. For this reason, we are dedicating this year to Sándor Petőfi. Practically, it is a fifteen-month period, from January 1 of this year to March 15 of the following year, as the day of the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution in 1848. There is no segment of Hungarian society that has not been touched by the idea and invitation to participate in this celebration. In this modern time, we want to pay respect to Sandor Petőfi and his work, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to draw people's attention to the fact that the values he conveyed, the values he still represents, do not cease to exist in the 21st century. I even think that today in the 21st century, in these heated times, in these turbulent times, all those values that he advocated are perhaps even more significant than in some other more peaceful times. During this 15-month celebration period, I think that this day and this postage stamp will represent a special gem. I think this is unprecedented. I do not think there is a single jubilee similar to this among us Hungarians, which reached this level. And if one wants to answer the question: "And what does or what did the improvement of relations between Hungarians and Serbs bring?", then I can say "Look, the Post of Serbia issued a commemorative postage stamp with the image of Sandor Petőfi!", on which for the first time, according to my knowledge, his first and last name are spelled in Hungarian. I think it is a crucial thing; it is one such things that were completely unimaginable ten years ago and is completely unimaginable in the current environment around us where Hungarians also live, who remember Sándor Petőfi. It is unthinkable that the Romanian Post, the Slovak Post, the Croatian Post or any other post has the freedom to make such a move without great political and pompous arrangements. I think this is an incredible result, an incredible value, I might even say, the value for which Petőfi gave his life. I want to say thank you once again. I want to thank all those at the Post of Serbia who dedicatedly worked on this project, I want to thank Mr. Adam Sofronijević whom I just met, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart. I want to thank the printing house Magyar Szó, Mrs. Edvina Erdődi and Mr. Gábor Mókus, who works together with the Post, to such an extent as we heard in the introduction. To issue twelve million eight hundred thousand stamps in one year means to issue so many banknotes, because issuing a stamp is practically issuing banknotes, because these are securities. That is the great skill of the printing house, that is the great value of the cooperation with the Post, that trust between the Post and Magyar Szó is great and we are proud of that and we thank you and we will try to be worthy of this cooperation continuing in the future."