Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how he plans to mark the 70th anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg's arrival in Hungary; what recent discussions he has had with the government of (a) Sweden and (b) Hungary on this anniversary; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK continues to play a leading international role in Holocaust education, remembrance and research. This includes recalling and paying tribute to the bravery, and often sacrifices, of individuals such as Raoul Wallenberg – which includes a monument of him outside our Embassy in Budapest. There are no current plans to mark the anniversary of his arrival in Budapest, nor have there been specific discussions with the Swedish or Hungarian governments on the anniversary. However, we remain committed including in our role as current chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, to working with the Hungarian government to help them strengthen international co-operation to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten. Hungary is currently observing a Holocaust Memorial Year, concluding a programme of remembrance which began in 2012 with a commemoration of Raoul Wallenberg.