“We Have Drawn Our Bow And Launched An Arrow”

– In the past, Magyar Honvéd was distributed in the Hungarian Defence Forces only. What is the reason for the change?

– Military magazines exist in nearly all countries in the world – there are two kinds: one is distributed within a closed circle, only in the armed forces, and the other type is circulated in the streets as well. In Hungary, the first military paper that was published after the liberation was issued in December 1948, titled Néphadsereg (People’s Army). In the past six decades, not only had its title been changed several times, for it had been issued sometimes as a daily, and in other periods even as a weekly paper. In the history of the magazine that reports on the life of the armed forces, the last chapter has been the year 2008, when the magazine, which had been issued on 32 pages in a weekly format until last year, has been extended to a 64-page coloured monthly magazine that has already stepped out of strictly closed circulation limited to the military alone. Since in addition to the corps and military organizations, all Hungarian secondary schools and institutions of higher education have received the periodical. Then at the end of the last year, we assessed the experiences gained last year and the decision was made: on January 22, 2009, the coloured magazine Magyar Honvéd will be issued nationwide with an increased page number, on 84 pages.

– Will the task of the magazine also change?

– Until now, the most important task of the magazine was to facilitate the flow of information within the Hungarian Defence Forces. In addition to that, we have also reported on significant actions, maneuvers, domestic and foreign activities about which the civil society – besides the troops and those who have links to the Hungarian Defence Forces – had every right to know. Nevertheless, on January 22 – and following that, every third Friday of the month – a magazine with a changed content will be out in the streets.

– As we say in the office, the magazine will rely on five pillars, which mean five independent sections. The first pillar is ’global focus’. The reason for this is that we believe that civil and military readers alike are interested in the political-military changes happening in the world. Since the history of the world is unfortunately shaping in an unlucky way that there is a war event in one of the crisis areas of the Earth nearly every month. And we try to brief the readers somehow on these events and on the issues of security policy.

– What does the second pillar include?

– We have named it ’on the path of armies’. In this section we try to report on the illustrious events of Hungarian military history. In our January issue, we will set off in two main directions: one is the history of 1848-49, and the other one is a significant event from the recent past, namely recalling the events of the February 12, 1945 breakout from the Buda Castle.

– And the third section?

– It is titled ’The force is with us!’. In this section, we present the activities and corps that are of a special interest for civil readers. We dedicate our January issue to the Special Forces, thus we will present the faceless soldiers of the world – as special intervention units are called. Of course, we will also inform our readers about the Hungarian equivalent of these corps, this time we have paid a visit to HDF 34th ’László Bercsényi’ Special Operations Battalion of Szolnok. This section will have an interesting feature: our portrait series titled ’three-star people’ where we will be introducing three-star personnel from sergeant first class to lieutenant general. In January, our readers can learn more about Colonel Tamás Sándor, commander of the special operations battalion.

– What is the fourth pillar about?

– Military technology. In this section of the January issue we will be writing about the modernization of Mi–17 helicopters, and also the year that has passed since Hungarian Gripen fighters were added to the system. But our readers can also learn about the MP5 submachine gun and about how to drive an eight-wheel BTR.

– Finally, let’s talk about the fifth section as well.

– This is going to be the most coloured section of the magazine, bearing the name ’hinterland’. This is where we would like to present the interesting features related to the armed forces. For example, our readers can learn about the history of camouflage garments. Since everybody believes it is natural that soldiers wear a camouflage uniform, but this has not always been like that. In addition to that, we will be writing about the birth of strategic computer games, which are so popular among young people, and about those special moving tank stunts which create an absolutely realistic illusion in war movies – last time for instance in the movie about 1956 titled ’Freedom, Love’. I could continue the list for a long time, but you should read it in the magazine instead.

– Today it is very difficult to break into the press market in Hungary even for a magazine that has been existing for sixty years. What kind of prognoses have you begun this task with?

– This is going to be a flight when we must take off and in the course of the flight we must continuously adapt to the changing circumstances. This magazine will change on an ongoing basis, in line with the emerging demands. With the help of Szonda Ipsos Opinion Research Institute, the preliminary demands were surveyed last November. But naturally, it may happen that there will be topics we have not thought about at the start, but they will be included in the structure of the periodical in the future.

– In the life of a journal getting out to the street means that it can be subscribed to and can also be purchased.

– This is going to be same with us, naturally. Anyone can subscribe to the magazine at the Hungarian Post but it will also be circulated in the streets all over the country. Thus all those interested in national defence and the military can buy it in most of the newsstands and in larger shopping centres. We are calculating with a starting issue in ten thousand copies, which makes it possible for us to continue our traditions. In other words, as of January we will continue to send Magyar Honvéd to the educational institutions, military organizations, and the troops as well.

– As the editor-in-chief, what do you personally expect from this historic step?

– I can tell you what János Bródy said in 1984, after the premiere of the rock opera Stephen, The King. He said back then: ’we have worked fairly, we have drawn our bow and launced an arrow’. And eventually, this arrow has hit something. I, too, strongly believe that this information package we have created will hit a medium that will read this magazine month by month. I think one of the reasons why there is a need for us in society is that by the cessation of compulsory military service approximately ten thousand information channels have ceased to exist in Hungary. For this was roughly the yearly number of young people to serve in the military, who were telling their families, friends, girlfriends about the armed forces in the evening or at weekends, when they went home. All this does not exist now, thus those who would like to receive information today on the continuously chaning Hungarian Defence Forces, the troops serving on missions, can be the regular readers of Magyar Honvéd as a new channel of information. Of course, we have asked for the assistance of well-known media personalities – for instance Gábor Bochkor, László Palik, or Vujity Tvrtko – who have recently been in closer contact with the army, and from these contacts friendships have been made proving that there is indeed a ground for civilians as well in this nice field.