Proclamation of the Republic of Hungary (23 October 1989)

On 23 October 1989 the acting president, Mátyás Szűrös, proclaimed the Republic of Hungary from the balcony of the Parliament building in Budapest. The date was chosen on purpose: the 1956 popular uprising against Soviet rule had begun on 23 October.

The first free elections were held in the spring of 1990. On 19 June 1991 the last Soviet soldier left Hungary, and the country could choose its own path in full independence.

Hungary has no separate Independence Day. It has three national holidays: 15 March (the 1848 revolution), 20 August (the founding of the state by Saint Stephen around the year 1000) and 23 October (the 1956 revolution and the 1989 proclamation of the republic).