The Hungarian People’s Security Always Comes First

Dr. István Simicskó pointed out that security has now become the most important value in Europe. He added that in the recent period, the highly-trained personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces have demonstrated that they are able to protect Hungary’s borders and guarantee the security of its citizens.

“We need to adapt to the emerging security challenges", the Minister said, noting that “it would be a sin if we did not use all available means to combat terrorism". The Hungarian Defence Forces are ready to do so, Dr. István Simicskó stated.

Speaking about the bill put forward by the government about declaring a state of emergency in the event of terrorist threats, he said that a parliamentary consultation had recently been held in which the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) “sadly" did not participate. As he told the press, the opposition parties had submitted some proposals, including the one from MSZP, which is intended for debate. Jobbik was the only party to prepare an alternative wording of the draft, according to which approval by a fourth-fifths majority in Parliament would be required to authorize the enactment of measures.

According to István Simicskó, this proposal is not realistic, because immediate action must be taken if need arises. “Terrorists do not base their decisions on a “fourth-fifths" vote", the Minister said.

We must use all means in combating terrorism and bring Hungarian legislation into line with international practice

As the Minister pointed out, while preparing the bill, the government also reviewed the legislation of other NATO member states and neighboring countries.

“Hungarian legislation must be brought into line with these, because currently we don’t have enough room to maneuvre in deploying the armed forces", the Minister said, noting that thousands of troops were mobilized in France in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks.

Dr. István Simicskó pointed out that from Afghanistan to Iraq, Hungarian soldiers are currently fighting against terrorism, but they are not authorized to do so in Hungary. The Minister stated that no one could seriously believe that the government is seeking some kind of absolute power, and would use the Hungarian troops without good reason to attain this goal.

He stated that “at the same time, whenever a credible terrorist threat arises, we must use all available means".

“We must use all means to combat terrorism", the Minister stated, pointing out that those who think differently put the Hungarian people’s security at risk.

For this reason, he said he hopes that the Parliament will pass the bill on declaring a state of emergency in case of terrorist threats, so that the government can safeguard the Hungarian people’s security by drawing on the widest possible scale of resources, including the trained capabilities of the Hungarian Defence Forces.

In connection with the topic, Chief of Defence Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő told the press that last year the Hungarian soldiers had carried out all the planned tasks, “standing their ground honourably", from the crisis caused by mass migration to dealing with the terrorist threat. More than 7,000 troops participated in handling the crisis caused by mass migration in Hungary.

Furthermore, nearly 1,000 Hungarian troops served with foreign missions. Gen. Benkő emphasized that the intention is to maintain the Hungarian Defence Forces’ plannned level of 1,000 personnel deployed with foreign missions.

“Strengthening security in foreign countries also remains a priority, which will help to prevent the start of a new wave of migrants", Tibor Benkő added.

2016 is the year of capability development in the Hungarian Defence Forces

At the press briefing held after the annual assessment and tasking conference of the Hungarian Defence Forces, the Chief of Defence identified recruitment, retention and capability building as the most important tasks for this year.

He said that the plans include the setting up of a new military police organization with national authority in the Petőfi barracks, Budapest as of this March. Its scope will range from maintaining order in the military to monitoring compliance with transport regulations. Gen. Tibor Benkő said that the leaders of the HDF had long been waiting for the establishment of this military police centre. The Hungarian Defence Forces will be able to use this new capability on national and international levels as well.

The Chief of Defence told the press that this year the soldiers will be assigned largely the same amount of tasks as last year, when they participated in some 40 international, NATO, bilateral and multilateral exercises as well as around 30 national ones.

In his speech, the Chief of Defence also noted that although two Gripen fighter jets were lost during the year, the Hungarian troops fully performed the air policing duties in the airspace of Hungary, Slovenia and also in the Baltic Air Policing mission in the last quarter of 2015. Last year the pilots reached the highest number of flight hours so far, having flown around 1,800 hours.

In answering a related question from the press, Minister of Defence Dr. István Simicskó said that the replacement of both lost Gripens is expected to take place this year. One of them can be repaired, and negotiations on the replacement of the other one have already started with the Swedish manufacturer.

The Special Forces Battalion continues operating as a regiment

Talking about the capability development projects of the Hungarian Defence Forces, Gen. Tibor Benkő pointed out that the former Special Forces Battalion was reorganized into a regiment on 1 January, and its manning level is set to around 1,200 men. Besides, they intend to establish training units in ten garrisons to help launch the regional training of reservists.

In connection with this topic, Dr. István Simicskó announced that he had appointed outgoing Deputy State Secretary for Public Relations at the Ministry of Defence Maj.-Gen. István Kun Szabó a ministerial commissioner and put him in charge of developing the volunteer reserve system in the future.

The Minister also noted that they intend to strengthen the relations between the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Hungarian society and broaden their scope in the future. As part of this plan, they will reach out to young people also through popularizing sports, including those related to the military.

István Simicskó said that in addition to the above, in the future they intend to introduce a people-oriented approach into the Hungarian Defence Forces, which includes further salary increases, enhancing the effectiveness of the career path and attaining the goal of providing Hungarian soldiers with equipment meeting the standards of a 21st NATO member country.

Photos by László Tóth