On March 12, 1999 – 25 years ago today – the Lantos Foundation’s namesake Congressman Tom Lantos flew to Independence, Missouri, for a ceremony marking the accession of the Czech Republic, Poland, and his native Hungary to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On that day, he exultantly told The New York Times, “After a thousand years of desperate craving to be part of the West, it's official – [Hungary is] in, we get the imprimatur of NATO.”
Congressman Lantos was the only Member of Congress to attend the historic ceremony at the Harry S. Truman Library, but his participation was fitting. He understood better than almost anyone the vital importance of NATO, having lived under both Nazi fascism and the Soviet Union’s communism in Hungary. He witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust first-hand; later, he watched from afar in anguish and helplessness as the Soviets crushed the 1956 Hungarian uprising. To him, NATO represented a commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy, which he desperately wanted Hungary to embrace. He also knew that NATO was a promise, a guarantee that countries with these shared values would never be left to stand alone against aggressors. He wanted this guarantee for his native land, and he worked with energy and passion behind the scenes to help bring it to pass, including with Democratic Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, then-Senator Joe Biden, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Dante Fascell, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, among others.
In the 25 years since Hungary’s accession, and nearly 75 since NATO’s establishment, many other countries have joined the Alliance – most recently, Sweden only a few days ago. We may wish that 75 years down the road, we would no longer have need of such a military alliance, but the reality is that NATO’s importance has only grown. Russian’s bloody war of aggression against Ukraine has shaken the post-Cold War international system that once seemed so stable and has put into stark relief the critical role that NATO plays in bringing western democracies together to stand against the expansionist aims of authoritarian leaders like Putin. In recent years, some have called into question NATO’s value to the world and its strategic importance. If there was ever any doubt, Putin’s criminal war should have laid such ignorant ideas to rest.
As we reflect on the day that Hungary officially joined NATO, we also remember the words of Tom Lantos the following year, when Hungary marked a millennium since its founding. “As we celebrate this momentous occasion, it is important, however, to hoist a flag of caution,” he said. “Democracy in Hungary is functioning, but certainly not without its imperfections…So while [I congratulate] Hungary for having put an end to its fascist and communist past and having joined the family of democratic and freedom loving nations, I call on all Hungarians to meticulously observe the rules of political democracy and pluralism without which a promising future certainly will not be there.”
These words of caution have as much relevance today as they did when Congressman Lantos first spoke them. While Hungary remains a member of the democratic community – and an important one – it too often flirts with undemocratic actions and illiberal ideologies. No one loved Hungary more than Tom Lantos, and no one was more invested in seeing it continue to grow and develop as a vibrant democracy. We hope that this day of reflection on and remembrance of Hungary’s historic accession to NATO will also serve as a reminder of the shared values and principles that this accession confirmed – and to which Tom Lantos dedicated so much of his life.