Hungarian Minister of Defence, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, shared a few details in a social media post regarding the Hungarian Defence Forces’ mission to Chad, that was approved by former prime minister Viktor Orbán, while raising questions about the role of the his son, Gáspár Orbán.
Almost EUR 11 million to a military peace mission in the middle of Africa
Nearly HUF 4 billion (more than EUR 10.9 million) in public funds was spent preparing Hungary’s planned military mission to Chad, Ruszin-Szendi has claimed. He disclosed the figure after briefing the Hungarian Parliament’s Defence and Law Enforcement Committee in a closed session on Wednesday. He said classified information prevented him from publicly detailing how the money had been spent.
“When I explained what had happened and what the money had been spent on, the committee members looked utterly stunned.”
Minister raises questions over Gáspár Orbán’s role in the mission in Chad
In a Facebook post, Ruszin-Szendi said the committee had been informed about the preparation of the Chad mission and Gáspár Orbán’s involvement in the programme. “Nearly HUF 4 billion in public money was spent in connection with the mission,” the minister wrote, adding that he knew how the funds had been used but could not disclose the details because some of the information was classified on national security grounds.
Based on what he had heard during the closed briefing, Ruszin-Szendi said he believed Orbán’s family background had provided him with opportunities and state support without which the programme “would hardly have been realised in this form”. He also said:
“We can only thank our luck that this did not turn into a catastrophe.”
The minister did not provide publicly available evidence detailing what he meant by the statement or specify what potential danger he was referring to.
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Parliament had approved the mission
Ruszin-Szendi also stressed that Parliament had formally approved the establishment of the mission and authorised the use of several billion forints in related expenditure. As a result, he said, the legal authorisation provided by Parliament meant that he currently had no legal basis for filing a criminal complaint over the circumstances he had learned about.
The planned Chad mission had previously attracted attention because of Gáspár Orbán’s involvement. Official documents obtained by Hungarian media outlet 444.hu reportedly indicated that his role went beyond that of a simple liaison, with his approval reportedly required for certain decisions. The former defence minister, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, had previously described Orbán as a “liaison” involved in the preparations.
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Classified details remain undisclosed
The government has not publicly disclosed a complete breakdown of the nearly HUF 4 billion expenditure, and Ruszin-Szendi said some details could not be released because of their security classification. The Chad mission was intended to strengthen Hungary’s military and security presence in the African country, although the plans have subsequently become a subject of political and public scrutiny.
During Wednesday’s committee session, Ruszin-Szendi also briefed lawmakers on developments surrounding a separate hand-grenade accident at the Újdörögd military training area.
