Hungarian major: even Americans distrust Hungarians; NATO exclusion on the horizon? – videos

Major Szilveszter Pálinkás was once the face of the military recruitment campaign launched by Kristóf Szalay-Bobroviczky. Yet in an interview published last Thursday, he spoke with unflinching candour about the dire state within the Hungarian Armed Forces, the studies of the Prime Minister’s son, Orbán Gáspár, at the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, African operational plans, and Hungary’s dismal standing within NATO.

Distrust in the NATO due to close Russia-Hungary ties

Pálinkás, holding the rank of major—a grade below the lieutenant colonel in Hungary’s officer hierarchy—submitted his resignation request last year. The Hungarian military leadership effectively ignored it. Despite his rank, Pálinkás’s qualifications have taken him on numerous NATO missions, including a year-long course at the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, where he studied alongside the Prime Minister’s son, Gáspár Orbán.

Serving as an intelligence officer, Pálinkás recounted attending NATO exercises where the Ukrainian-Russian conflict was discussed in reconnaissance contexts. He was barred from these sessions, he claims, because the Americans distrusted Hungarians.

On similar exercises, soldiers from other nations approached him to ask whether Hungary would side with NATO or Russia in a potential conflict. They had read the Hungarian government’s statements on the war, Pálinkás said, and found no clarity therein.

High command aware of eroding trust

Such reports—that NATO allies distrust Hungary due to perceived pro-Russian leanings—regularly reach Hungary’s military leadership, Pálinkás asserted. Yet no measures are taken to reverse this or improve our alliance standing.

Responding to the host, he added that NATO’s leadership avoids public statements to prevent political friction between member states. At the operational level—where Pálinkás operated—the tension is palpable: a palpable lack of trust from other NATO troops towards the Hungarian forces.

Hungarian military may collapse sooner than anyone expects

Elsewhere in the interview, Pálinkás noted a flood of resignation requests from the ranks. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Hungary has been under a state of war emergency, periodically extended by Parliament. With its two-thirds majority, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz can renew it with a flick of the wrist.

Should the emergency end, Pálinkás warned, so many would quit that Hungary’s defence capabilities would collapse to zero. The host did not probe how to avert this, but Pálinkás alluded repeatedly to troops enduring shoddy equipment, poor provisions, dismal conditions, and unreasonable duties—while mocking government claims of a potential Ukrainian attack on Hungary as laughable.

In essence, Pálinkás warns that without a future government and military leadership restoring sensible operations, proper provisioning, and respect for soldiers, Hungary’s independent army—dating to 1848—could disintegrate.

Brigadier denies Pálinkás’s claims

Pálinkás’s interview drew a response from Brigadier General Péter Zákány, who spoke to Mandiner with ministerial approval. Zákány rejected every issue raised, insisting NATO values Hungarian capabilities highly and that any trust deficit is implausible. He added that Hungary’s defences and military prowess are advancing, with no mass exodus looming.

The two interviews can be viewed at the following links:

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