Defence minister: Army staff to receive wage hikes
Personnel of the Hungarian armed forces and defence employees will receive salary increases and a bonus payment this year in recognition of their achievements, the defence minister said on Friday.
The monthly wage of soldiers has been raised by ten percent as of this month and they will receive a bonus of six-month’s pay in February, Tibor Benkő said in a video message posted on the defence ministry’s Facebook page.
Hungarian troops serving on international armed peace-keeping missions will receive this year a 10 percent increase on top of the 15 percent they got in 2021, the minister said.
The wage increases that began in 2019 for defence employees will continue this year, he added.
read also: Hungarian govt: wage hikes to usher 2022
As regards the development of the armed forces, Benkő noted that the number of regular army staff, contracts and voluntary reserves had gone up by 13,000 since 2010.
Benkő expressed thanks and appreciation to soldiers for their outstanding efforts in fighting illegal migration and in pandemic defence.
“They serve as a model of responsibility for the community, as 99 percent of them have already taken up a vaccine against Covid,” the minister said.
Read alsoDo people in Bucharest really live better than people in Budapest?
Source: MTI
Increasing compensation of the military is probably a good idea, however, Hungary has bigger problems. Professional armed forces do not work well for small countries. Conscription should be reconsidered in order to increase manpower. The Hungarian armed forces (currently authorized manpower) of 30,000 is simply too small to defend the Country. It is not even big enough to hold out until NATO help could arrive. Right now, the military is also top heavy with an inadequate number of actual combat troops. The force is almost 20% female (one of the highest percentage of any armed force in the world. Also there are still too many old, out of shape male soldiers. Furthermore about 5% of the force is out of the Country on UN & NATO peace keeping mission. Another 10% is involved with border security. As far as weapons and equipment are concerned, Hungary has finally taken steps to modernize its armed forces after 30 years of neglect. Unfortunately most of the 21st century weapons purchased will not arrive for years. Considering that there may be war next door (Ukraine) Hungary has to realize that it is in a dangerous area of the world. 12 modern tanks, 12 modern fixed wing combat aircraft and two dozen modern helicopters are inadequate to protect the Country. The build up the armed forces must be speeded up. Depending on others to defend your country is a bad idea.