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1849 Arad martyrs commemorated

October 6 has been observed as a national day of mourning since 2001 in memory of 13 high-ranking officers of the Hungarian army who were executed in Arad.

The national flag of Hungary was hoisted and then lowered to half-mast in front of Parliament on Sunday morning as a tribute to the leaders of the country's anti-Habsburg revolution and War of Independence who were executed on this day in 1849.

The ceremony was attended by Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Gabor Borondi, the chief of staff of the Hungarian Armed Forces, and other government officials.

October 6 has been observed as a national day of mourning since 2001 in memory of 13 high-ranking officers of the Hungarian army who were executed in Arad, now in Romania, and Count Lajos Batthyany, prime minister of the revolutionary government, executed in Pest on the same day.

Commemorations continued at Budapest's Fiumei Street Cemetery, where Batthyany was laid to rest.