Nova Gorica - A monument to Hungarian soldiers killed in the Battles of the Isonzo was unveiled on Tuesday in a site above Nova Gorica, close to where some of the worst fighting of WWI took place.

"I'm sure that concern for war graves is a permanent and important task of every modern and cultivated country. Attitude to the dead is a fundamental ethical issue," Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin said.

He said the memory of the bitter battles along the Soča river was a reminder that it is necessary to do "everything to make sure wars, which have caused so much suffering, never occur again."

"Slovenia is committed to peace, and together with our friends and allies we will do everything in our power to make sure peace remains lasting."

Tonin noted that Hungarian soldiers had fought for the common homeland at the time and endured 29 months of heavy fighting on the front lines.

Hungarian Defence Minister Tibor Benko thanked Slovenia and the Nova Gorica municipality for nurturing permanent memory of the Hungarian soldiers who perished in the Battles of the Isonzo.

The monument, designed by Adrian Cingele, is a metal structure that mimics a trench: the deeper one goes, the narrower it becomes, allowing people to imagine what horrible feelings soldiers must have experienced.

It is a part of the broader emerging Park of Nations, a series of sites in memory of WWI.

During the 12 Battles of the Isonzo, more than half a million Austro-Hungarian army soldiers were killed, wounded, captured or went missing in action, whereas Italy's losses reached around a million troops.