“The Last Period Was About The Renewal Of The Defence Forces”

Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres was received with military honours Tuesday morning at the HDF ’József Ittebei Kis’ Helicopter Base in Szolnok. The minister held the traditional yearly assessment and tasking meeting for the senior staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Ministry of Defence, and the leaders of the corps and military organizations.

The event started with the minister and the invitees inspecting the land standby service, the standby airlift unit, and the parts of the disaster prevention system of the military (HKR). In his report Major General József Kovács, the chief of the land branch of the HDF Joint Forces Command (JFC) said: the fuction of the land standby service, in the event of an unexpected attack against the country or foreign armed groups crossing the border illegally or imminent danger of a possible terrorist act, is to repel the attack and provide proper response capability. The duty of the standby units is to provide standby service within a specified time limit and carry out the unexpected tasks.

It was also mentioned that the disaster prevention system developed by the Hungarian Defence Forces is connected to the national disaster prevention network. There are more than a thousand troops from the military organizations of the JFC and three hundred technical equipments in 92 work groups participating in the disaster prevention system of the military 24 hours a day – General Kovács underlined.

Following the report the representatives of the corps of the base – the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base, the HDF 34th ’László Bercsényi’ Special Operations Battalion, and the HDF 25th/88th Light Mixed Battalion – showed the guests the forces participating in the military disaster prevention system.

The event continued with a so-called dynamic display, with the Szolnok corps demonstrating the liquidation of an armed group that invaded the territory of the Republic of Hungary, followed by the demonstration of flood prevention, search&rescue, and special firefighting capabilities, which are part of the HKR. In the case of the special firefighting capability, the participants of the assessment and tasking meeting saw the 2,5 m³ balloon, used in aerial firefighting, ’at work’.

Changes and commitments

In an irregular way, Imre Szekeres assessed not only one year, but the past four years in his speech at one of the most important and determining events in 2010. The defence minister said the last period was about renewal. Since 2006, fundamental changes have taken place in the Hungarian Defence Forces, as a result of which the old-fashioned mass army disappeared, and an all-volunteer, professional military that is capable of responding to the challenges of the 21st century has stepped into its place.

The last four years went by in the spirit of national consensus – emphasized the defence minister, adding: during the entire term, parliamentary parties have unanimously supported the bills proposed to Parliament. The other key to renewal was that the commitments of the country were realistic and viable, and they did not exceed our load-bearing capacity.

In the opinion of Imre Szekeres we can say that we have managed to fully attain the goals we set in organizational transformation in the summer of 2006. But in order to succeed, it was necessary to create the legal environment. With the regulations adopted in the last four years, the set of rules for operation in time of peace has become complete again, after a long period. In addition to that, with the elaboration and approval of the National Military Strategy, the government has filled a more than a decade-old gap.

– I consider the creation and adoption of the National Military Strategy one of the most important achievements of the term. The birth of the strategy is an extraordinary event in the life of the Hungarian Defence Forces, for Hungary has not had a modern military strategy since the change of the regime. This fundamental document specifies the military tasks of the Republic of Hungary and the main directions of the development of the Hungarian Defence Forces in the long run – said Imre Szekeres.

The defence minister continued with telling about the renewal of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The organizational changes have fundamentally changed the military. Transformation was a priority because only a modern military organized on a voluntary basis is worth developing, and because only such an army is capable of carrying out its basic tasks professionally. Imre Szekeres reminded the guests that the changes began in the summer of 2006 with the transformation of the Ministry of Defence, the organization of which has become more transparent and less complicated. Following that, the establishment of the HDF Joint Forces Command began, which was completed in six months. During the last three years it has been proven that the new integrated medium-level managing body of the defence forces ensures fast decision-making and preparation on the basis of simpler and uniform principles.

We have also made considerable changes in the background institutions of the ministry – continued Imre Szekeres – from the 32 offices and background institutions, 7 have remained. The changes in the number of personnel in the newly transformed Hungarian Defence Forces were favourable, for the number of personnel has increased at the corps. Today 87 per cent of the personnel serve in the corps.

Renewed training system

– The professional all-volunteer military faces much higher requirements, the trainings of the troops are a lot more extensive and they know a lot more. These changes have made it possible for us to radically renew the training and preparation system of the Hungarian Defence Forces, in compliance with the transformed organization and set of requirements. We have introduced basic training for each member of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Further task and capability-oriented trainings are gradually built on this knowledge – said Imre Szekeres.

In his speech the minister also emphasized that after the organizational transformation was finished in 2007, from 2008, the emphasis was on stabilization and development. The arrival of the Gripen fighters was a milestone, and the activation of the NATO Heavy Airlift Wing in Pápa is one of the biggest professional successes of the past four years. In addition to that, the vehicle sourcing program and the combat vehicle modernization program continued. Since the project was launched, nearly 600 new combat vehicles have arrived. Moreover, there has been important progress in the field of temporary and permanent signal system development. The developments related to the preservation of forces and increasing their mobility have also produced significant results. For example they have developed the EOD capability, preserved the armour-piercing and anti-tank capability of the Hungarian Defence Forces, and modernized the personal equipments and armament of the troops.

– I personally consider it an extraordinary success that on July 1, 2007, the MoD National Medical Center was established, and since then, it has become the most modern hospital in the country that meets the requirements of the 21st century – said the defence minister, adding: Hungarian military medicine has also been recognized, for at the end of last year the NATO Military Medicine Center of Excellence was established in Budapest, operating as a kind of a think-tank in the future.

In his assessment Imre Szekeres also underlined that the two pillars of national defence, our own national resources and cooperation with the allies, are equally important. The Hungarian Defence Forces protect Hungary, ensure the sovereignty of the airspace of the Republic of Hungary, and participate in restoration after natural disasters and emergencies. In addition to that, they are ready and have the means to efficiently and productively participate in international peace establishing, peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations.

The Balkans, Afghanistan

“We have treated and will treat our presence in the West Balkans and Afghanistan as priority tasks in the past and in the near future as well" – the minister underlined. The stability of the Balkans continues to be in our fundamental national interest. It is also reflected by the fact that two-thirds of the Hungarian troops participating in peacekeeping are serving in the West Balkans. And despite the fact that the number of international forces has decreased, the Hungarian commitment has not changed.

In the opinion of Imre Szekeres, the Afghanistan commitment is the Hungarian Defence Forces’ most complex, most significant, and most challenging crisis management task to date. In addition to the Provincial Reconstruction Team, the Hungarians successfully operated the Kabul international airport as the leading nation between October 2008 and March 2009. In 2009, in cooperation with the military of the United States of America, they have set up an Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT).

The minister emphasized that in 2010, the Hungarian Defence Forces will continue, and what is more, extend their participation in the Afghanistan crisis management operation. From the first half of the year the number of personnel in the Hungarian contingent will increase, and in the second half they would like to send a further 100-130 soldiers to the Asian country. This already includes a new OMLT and the required number of personnel to control the Kabul airport.

The defence minister continued with telling the invitees about the considerable social support of the Hungarian Defence Forces. According to opinion polls, the defence forces are more and more recognized by society, at the moment they are among the three most known institutions. “The Ministry of Defence and the Hungarian Defence Forces have opened towards society!" – stated the minister, stressing that in the past few years they have started a tradition by saying farewell to and welcoming back the contingents leaving for or returning from missions in the main squares of cities, with the participation of the locals. They have done the same in the case of the appointments of many commanders.

Deployability, operability

Speaking about the future, Imre Szekeres emphasized he is convinced that one of the most important tasks will be the completion of the transformation of the Hungarian Defence Forces in compliance with the processes in the NATO. It is also important to continue the technical developments at the right pace. In order to do so, the continuous development of the deployment and operability features of the land forces is very important.

– The protection of the country, the collective defence tasks, and the presence in international peace operations require the continuous increase of the deployability of the corps. Our aim is that the deployable ratio of the land forces and other organizational units supporting them should reach 40 per cent by 2014, and exceed 50 per cent by 2016 – said the minister, emphasizing that an army with modern, deployable capabilites cannot be imagined without a military force that can properly carry out its tasks. Therefore one of the objectives is to attain the capabilities necessary for the utilization of Gripen fighter planes on the widest spectrum. In the medium term, due to the increasing demand, Hungarian pilots have to be given more flying hours. In order to do so, the Mi–17 transport helicopters and the Mi–24 combat helicopters will be rehauled in the framework of the helicopter program. The Mi–8 transport helicopters will be replaced with a new type of aircraft. In order to support the operations, it is very important to preserve the fixed wing airlift capability of the HDF, therefore they plan to prolong the period of service of the An–26 airplanes and modernize them, and from 2014, they will be replaced with other aircraft.

Speaking about the NATO’s new strategic concept the defence minister emphasized: the aim of the Republic of Hungary is simple and clear. The alliance has to be adjusted to today’s changed world, and a new way of thinking is necessary to that. The strategic concept has to confirm the importance of transatlantic relations again. It has to be stated that Europe and North America are dependent on each other.

– Hungary sees the road to the future in the strengthening of multinational cooperation within the alliance. In connection with that, I believe it is a key issue to adopt the principle of joint financing of joint allied operations – stated Imre Szekeres.

At the end of his speech the defence minister also mentioned that in connection with capability development more attention has to be paid to the relations of the alliance with other organizations, with special regard to the European Union. In the scope of extending the cooperation, the NATO–EU relations have to be improved on strategic level. For it cannot be accepted that today the two organizations have only one joint operation, the ALTHEA mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Speaking about the NATO–EU cooperation Imre Szekeres also underlined that as of January 2011, Hungary will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union. The EU presidency is a serious challenge for our country in terms of national defence as well, since the military operations of the EU will have to be managed and if necessary, new operations will have to be launched.

After the speech of the defence minister, General László Tömböl, the MoD Chief of Defence Staff assessed the tasks of the previous year, and specified the tasks for 2010.