A memorable celebration

Islamabad:On the occasion the National Day of Hungary commemorating the 63rd. anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and Freedom fight, the ambassador of Hungary, Istvan Szabo and spouse Amelia hosted a reception to celebrate the day along with friends and colleagues. The event was held at the Serena Hotel and featured a concert by Ruby Lakatos and his ensemble. The guest of honour was Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mohammed Azam Khan Swati who congratulated the government and people of Hungary on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan and spoke of the good bilateral relations between the two countries.

After an interval of ‘meet and greet’ the program began with the playing of the national anthems of Hungary and Pakistan by the featured musicians and it was nice to hear the national anthem of Pakistan played in a different tempo. Welcoming the gathering, ambassador Szabo said, “We are celebrating 30 years living in Freedom. The markers of the past three decades were our membership in NATO in 1999 and in EU in 2004. These are historical dates and determined the course of my country’s political, social and economic development for the long term.”

“Here in Pakistan we also have good reason to celebrate. Twenty years ago, the Hungarian Oil and Gas Company, MOL began operation in the exploration and production sector. It has been the flagship project of our bilateral cooperation,” he said. “If we consider the geographical distance between Hungary and Pakistan, our countries are far away. In size and population, we are incomparable. In culture we are very different, nevertheless Hungarian-Pakistani relations are excellent, cordial and friendly.” Adding that Pakistan is not only their important partner in South-Asia but also a target country for the Hungarian scholarship program, he said the Hungarian government offers 200 scholarships/per year for Pakistani students in Hungarian higher educational institutions free of charge with full accommodation.

“Culture is another outstanding area of our bilateral relations” he said. “Considering the untapped potentials business and trade cooperation could be much better than it is at present. Recently we are witnessing an increased interest of Pakistani businessmen towards investing in Hungary.” He concluded by thanking of MOL; the Cultural Department of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Hotel Serena for their generous sponsorship - and last but not least his appreciation of all his embassy colleagues who worked hard to realise the unique program.

Amelia Szabo then introduced the musicians. She took a brief onstage interview of Roby Lakatos to get his opinion on his visit to Pakistan and speak about his music. She also announced the online competition that has been launched by the Roby Lakatas Foundation titled ‘The First International Roby Lakatos Violin Improvisation Competition.’ It is addressed to ‘fellow artists’ and details can be found on the Facebook page of the foundation.

Although it was expected that the concert would be a classical one - not everyone’s cup of tea - it was not! It was a delightful mix of different genres, very enjoyable, with toe tapping and hand clapping numbers, to which the audience responded by doing just that! The brief ‘duo’ performances with Roby and each musician were super and the applause and verbal appreciation they received after each number indicated that everyone was having a marvelous time. The concert will go down in memory as one of the best in recent years. Encores follow great performances and this evening it was no exception.

Dinner was served with Hungarian specialties. As one gentleman remarked when guests were leaving, this was one of the best receptions in quite a while.