“For The Homeland, Unto Death!”

The second Orbán cabinet was sworn in Saturday afternoon in Parliament. The ceremony was followed by a rally in Kossuth Square after which Minister of Defence Dr. Csaba Hende and his close colleagues – among them István Simicskó, the ministry’s future state secretary to Parliament and Zsolt Csampa, the deputy chairman of the Defence and Internal Security Committee of the National Assembly – were accompanied to the Ministry of Defence by heritage troops in uniforms of 1848, the First and the Second World War, and the 1956 revolution. The minister who had been appointed by the President of the Republic of Hungary a few hours earlier was received with military honours in the ministry in Balaton Street.

There were already many people waiting for the defence minister at the statue of Kossuth, and they accompanied him to the MoD where hundreds wanted to see the formal reception of Csaba Hende. Lajos Fodor, the ministry’s future administrative state secretary joined the march in Balaton Street.

Dr. Lajos Für, the defence minister of the Antall cabinet, former chiefs of defence staff retired General Kálmán Lõrincz and retired General János Deák, and writer István Nemeskürty were also among the distinguished guests. Following the national anthem, Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende delivered a speech.

"I have come from the statue of Lajos Kossuth. I have come with an army to my army, the Hungarian Defence Forces. The hussars of the 1848 freedom fight, the recruits of the First World War, the Hungarian soldiers of the Second World War, and the heroic revolutionaries of our 1956 freedom fight were also there in my army and accompanied me.

Soldiers! As of today, I am your superior in the military, therefore I give the order and command that the two armies unite and become one for ever! I command every Hungarian soldier in the Hungarian Defence Forces to shake the hands of their heroic predecessors in home defence in spirit, for we can build the modern Hungarian Defence Forces of the 21st century together.

Soldiers! I am your superior in the military, but as a reservist officer, I have always considered myself one of your comrades in arms in the first place and I will do the same in the future. We are one! You can always count on me, I will stand by you through thick and thin. I will always bear Miklós Zrínyi’s admonition in mind: “You have been put in charge of the army in order to take care of it!"

You can count on me and I also count on you. I count on you to protect our sweet country from every harm and danger, true to your oath. We do not need many words, for we have known each other for long. You have taken your soldiers’ oath a long time ago, just like myself. Therefore everybody knows and the whole world should know that for the freedom, rights and dignity of the Hungarian nation and the sovereignty of the homeland together we are willing to sacrifice even our lives if we have to! With the people through fire and water! For the homeland, unto death!" – said Csaba Hende.

The formal reception of the new defence minister ended with the parade of the guard company. Following the event Csaba Hende said in response to a question from the press: the official transfer of authority will take place on Monday, now he is signing the transfer documents, which is his constitutional duty. The defence minister of the Orbán cabinet said his three most important tasks are to strengthen the Hungarian Defence Forces, introduce a life-long career model for servicemen, and improve the Hungarian Defence Forces’ image and reputation.