Csaba Hende: The Hungarian Defence Industry Has Not Been But Will Be

He told the audience that earlier 35-40,000 people had worked in the field of Hungarian defence industry, which had designed inventions of international renown, and had had significant export incomes from their sale on the world market. In consequence of the 1989 change of regime, however, the Hungarian defence industry, with its successful companies, fell apart, and the pool of experts scattered. Csaba Hende said that the last four years were also about rebuilding the defence industry step by step. The Minister pointed out that during the last four years, four defence industry companies of the Ministry of Defence were able to come up with several products that have a promising future. For example, they include drones (unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs), water purification equipment and a recently introduced mobile laboratory with the highest security level.

Csaba Hende said that “to the sensible limit of possibilities, we have to equip our own armed forces with products of the domestic industry." The reason is that if we procure from Spain an item of military equipment, let’s say a mortar costing 100 euros, it will create jobs and tax revenues for the Spanish industry. At the same time, if the same mortar costing 100 euros were manufactured in Hungary, 50 euros of the cost would immediately return to the Hungarian budget. “That is why they try to choose the domestic opportunity whenever possible", he added. The Minister pointed out that security is the most important value that the state can give to its citizens. He stressed that in order to be able to guarantee security, it is important to have all those involved cooperate, including soldiers, policemen, vigilantes, the staffs of the disaster management directorate, the prison service and the defence industry.

Speaking at the conference co-organized by the Federation of Management and Scientific Associations (GTTSZ), the Hungarian Association of Police Science and the Biztonsagpiac.hu Co., László Garamvölgyi, President of the National Crime Prevention Council stressed that the knowledge-based infocommunications society of the 21st century places a very high value on crime prevention.

András Csóti, Director-General of the National Headquarters of the Hungarian Prison Service pointed out that last year there had not been any successful prisoner escapes in Hungarian prison service institutions. He said it was an important result that at the end of last year the National Assembly passed a law which would enter into force next January and would provide a new basis for the operation of prison service. He also noted that they are planning to create more than 3,000 new prison spaces in the next two years, so they can solve the biggest problem of Hungarian prison service, which is overcrowding. Furthermore, they are already negotiating about the establishment of a distance trial system, and they are also planning to set up a system of electronic remote surveillance, András Csóti said.

Photos by Mária Krasznai-Nehrebeczky