Hungary to increase military presence in crisis zones
Hungary will increase its military contribution to missions in countries “crucial in terms of migration and terrorism”, István Szabó, state secretary of defence, told military attaches at their annual meeting on Tuesday.
Szabó noted the heightened threat of terrorism across the world and drew a link to “illegal mass migration”. He also warned of increasing religious radicalism.
No improvement in the crisis zones where most migrants come from is discernable, he said.
Migration pressure on Hungary, however, has eased due to government measures, the state secretary added.
“It is easy to verify that Hungary has become one of the safest countries in the world,” he said.
Concerning international military cooperation, Szabó noted the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy France, and Austria as Hungary’s most important partners. He also noted opportunities in military technology cooperation with Sweden. He added that regional cooperation with the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, the three other Visegrád countries, “has never been as strong as today”.
Featured image: MTI
Source: MTI
Hungary should increase its military. The current authorized manpower (29,700) is completely inadequate to deter aggression or to protect the country even long enough to allow help from NATO to arrive. To make matters worse, the armed forces is top heavy with many, old, out of shape males and one of the largest percentage (17.5%) of females of any armed forces in the world. There are no real reserves. The Army has only 32 old T72’s on active duty with another 50 in storage. Most countries surrounding Hungary have more, including some that are much smaller. Hungary needs to purchase some modern tanks such as the German Leopards. There is an adequate number of armored personnel carriers, however, most of them are over 30 years old. There are no self propelled artillery and too few attack helicopters. The Air Force only has 11 modern combat planes whose mission of protecting the air space of Slovenia and the Baltic States is too unrealistic. The country needs at least 50-75 modern combat aircraft. The defense budget, as a percentage of GDP, is one of the lowest in NATO. It takes years to create a capable military. Hungary may regret that they have not funded their military adequately.