Remembering József Antall, A Man for Our Time
Remembering József Antall, A Man for Our Time

Summary/Abstract: Two notable anniversaries occurred in April, namely the twenty-second anniversary of the beginning of the work of the first democratic government since 1948, and the 80th anniversary of the birth of József Antall. The following story reveals much about the nature of József Antall. On 16 December 1991, the Prime Minister travelled to Brussels with his delegation for the signing of the European Union agreement for Hungary. My son happened to also be on board and told me the story later. During the flight the passengers were informed that due to a severe snowstorm in Budapest it looked as though the plane would have to divert to Vienna for landing. My son was curled up in his seat a little apart from the delegation, when all of a sudden the Prime Minister appeared and asked him where he lived in the city and how he would get home. Antall was making sure everyone could find cars back to Budapest. As it turned out the snowstorm was not severe enough to prevent landing, and the delegation arrived safely in Budapest.

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