Chief of Defence inspects soldiers on duty along the border

The Hungarian Defence Forces have been performing construction and security tasks along the whole length of the more than 300-km-long temporary security barrier since July 2015. Several thousand soldiers patrol the border sections 24 hours a day, participating in search and sweep operations and securing the surveillance of the area of responsibility with UAVs and rotary-wing aircraft.

In the interest of accommodating the soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces and providing their logistic supply, 28 sites have been set up at settlements in the area of five counties. The Chief of Defence made a tour of inspection along the patrol routes in the Hódmezővásárhely–Kelebia–Bácsalmás region, met the soldiers performing patrol duties, and stopped at several settlements, where he held staff meetings for the personnel on stand-by.

He said that thanks are due to everybody who is contributing to the success of the work being done here through their dedicated service that they have been doing in the interest of Hungary and also of Europe for already one and a half years. By now it has become clear that extremists like the perpetrators of terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels and Nice are inevitably exploiting the wave of illegal migration to infiltrate into the heart of Europe.

Drawing on intelligence, one can conclude that a reduction in the volume of security tasks would undoubtedly encourage masses of millions living in regions of the Middle East and North Africa to seek again routes to Western Europe through Hungary, thereby not only causing a humanitarian disaster but also exposing all affected countries to serious security risks.

The Chief of Defence explained that it depends on the soldiers and policemen protecting our borders under challenging circumstances whether Hungary will be able to successfully counter this threat.

Speaking about personnel-related issues, Dr. Tibor Benkő said that a bill has been submitted by the Ministry of Defence to the National Assembly to facilitate compensating the claimants of the Honvéd Health Care Fund.

In what followed, Dr. Tibor Benkő talked about the planned development and procurement of equipment in the Hungarian Defence Forces, the tangible results of which will already show up in some military units early next year.

Photo: HDF General Staff