Leadership Briefing

Szöveg: Tamás Zilahy | 2011. március 1. 15:14

On March 1 Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende held a briefing on task assignment and the assessment of the year in the compound of the Ministry of Defence on Lehel Street, Budapest. Dr. Pál Schmitt, the President of the Republic of Hungary and Commander-in-Chief of the Hungarian Defence Forces also attended the meeting and addressed the participants, including the members of the National Assembly Defence and Law Enforcement Committee, the top leaders of the Ministry of Defence and the MoD Defence Staff as well as several generals, commanders of HDF units and leaders of MoD-affiliated institutions.

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The Head of State was received with military honors. Pál Schmitt started his speech with a quote, then went on talking about the renewal that characterizes today’s Hungarian Defence Forces. He pointed out that there is more to national defence than work and there is more to the military vocation than being a profession. He said he was pleased to see the Honvéd Crown Guard – a detachment tasked with the protection of the Holy Crown – to be formed after nearly seven decades again. He reasserted that he intends to fulfill his duty as Commander-in-Chief by acting as a link between the leadership of the country, the Hungarian Defence Forces and the population. Speaking about the future, Dr. Pál Schmitt said “Hope is grounded in a changed approach and the realization of the significance of gaining strength. This is our national interest and our international commitment in NATO at once." The Commander-in-Chief of the HDF finished his speech by asking those present “to carry on the work you have started while being aware that you are participants in great transformations of historic times, in historic missions."

Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende started his speech by saying that the Hungarian Defence Forces are a national institution in the service of protecting the life and freedom of Hungary’s citizens. Looking back on 2010, he said it had been a hard yet important year because we were able to cope with the difficulties. “We have accomplished what we had to accomplish", the Minister added. Speaking about the tasks ahead, the Minister first of all referred to the renewal of the entire system of national defence, then went on talking about fighting corruption, setting new directions and the renewal of the officer training scheme. Dr. Csaba Hende also pointed to the economic hardships hindering the planned and long-awaited development of the HDF as well as the distressing total debt of the country which has necessitated a HUF 26 billion sequestration in this year’s defence budget. At the same time, the Minister stated that the austerity measures would put neither the living and service conditions of the troops at the HDF units nor the development of the mission-specific equipment and technology at risk. He said the primary goal remains to keep the trust of the Hungarian public in the soldiers. “Our mission is defence of the homeland to the best of our ability, so that we can be worthy of this great task. We will go down that road", the Minister concluded his speech.

The briefing finished with a closed-door meeting where the Defence Minister assessed the year and Gen. Tibor Benkő, Chief of Defence set the tasks for 2011.

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Photo: Tünde Rácz

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