Hungary postpones plans to build monument to Nazi ally

Under mounting pressure from home and abroad, Hungary’s combative Prime Minister Viktor Orban postponed until after the upcoming local and European parliamentary elections a much-criticized plan to erect a monument to commemorate the country’s occupation by Nazi Germany in 1944.

Six weeks before Hungarians are set to cast their votes, Mr. Orban, who is seeking a second consecutive term at the country’s helm, decided that the memorial, which has drawn outrage from a number of Jewish and civil organizations as well as the Israeli government, should be unveiled May 31, after Hungary’s parliamentary elections April 6 and the European Parliament’s election between May 22 and 25.

The monumental statue, which will feature Archangel Gabriel—which authors meant as a symbol of Hungary’s innocence during World War II—swooped down by Germany’s imperial eagle from above, was to be unveiled March 19, opposite a Soviet war memorial on the capital’s Freedom Square, a main downtown area in Budapest flanked by the U.S. embassy and a statue of former U.S. President Roland Reagan....