Magyar Posta and Post Luxembourg are issuing a joint commemorative souvenir sheet to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Forty thousand copies of the souvenir sheet designed by the graphic artist Attila André Elekes were produced by the banknote printing company Pénzjegynyomda.
Independent and modern Hungarian diplomacy came into being following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918 and the consolidation of Hungary after 1920. Count Olivier Woracziczky, the then head of the embassy in Brussels, was appointed by the Hungarian government as permanent chargé d’affaires accredited to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on 9 February 1924. This date is thus considered the official starting date of bilateral diplomatic relations between Hungary and Luxembourg, marking the beginning of the close cooperation between the two countries that continues today as part of the Community of 27 Member States of the European Union. Through the opening of the Luxembourg Office of the Embassy of Hungary in Brussels in 2014, Hungary re-established a permanent diplomatic representation with the Grand Duchy.
Even for a country with a history of more than a thousand years such as Hungary, 100 years is a significant period of time. Today, these bilateral diplomatic relations are further strengthened by the presence in Hungary of important Luxembourg companies such as Guardian Glass Europe, Cargolux and Heintz van Landewyck; the cooperation between Csókakő in Fejér County and the Luxembourg town of Heffingen, fostering close ties for two and a half decades, and the Hungarian community of around 2,000 people who live and work permanently in Luxembourg; the Hungarians working in the European Union institutions, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Auditors based in Luxembourg, the teachers and students of the Hungarian section of the European School, and the Hungarians working for global financial institutions, logistics companies and other Luxembourg and international businesses based in the capital.
The commemorative souvenir sheet features two paintings by Mihály Munkácsy, one of Hungary, Dusty Country Road II (after 1874), and another of Luxembourg, Grazing Cattle Herd (1882), in recognition of the fact that the world-famous artist is one of the closest culturalties between the two countries. Munkácsy’s wife was Cecile Papier from Luxembourg, with whom he lived near the Belgian border at Château de Colpach in Luxembourg. A good many of the works of this deservedly highly acclaimed Hungarian painter were painted there. A graphic composition referring to the centenary appears on the first day cover (FDC) and in the imprint of the special postmark.
