Meeting of defence leaders – Minister: Hungarian army fit to guarantee safety

Budapest, January 28 (MTI) – Security has become a most valued asset in Europe and new security challenges must be met, Defence Minister Istvan Simicsko told a press conference after a meeting of defence leaders on Thursday.

The Hungarian army is fit to guarantee the domestic security of residents, and it has proven itself in protecting the borders of Europe, too, Simicsko said. He added that “all tools must be deployed against terrorism”. The Hungarian military is ready for this task, Simicsko said in his assessment of the past year’s military achievements.

On the subject of the government’s plans to include a “state of terrorist threat” provision in the constitution, Simicsko said the government had called for consultations with the opposition, but the Socialists “sadly” had not attended.

He said of the opposition proposals on the table, the Socialists’ proposal is only a working draft.

The radical nationalist Jobbik party’s proposal, which is drafted in the proper legal format, suggests that authorising wider powers for the government in a state of terrorist threat should be tied to a four-fifths majority vote. Simicsko said this is not realistic since anti-terrorist actions must be immediate.

He said the government has reviewed the relevant legislation in NATO and neighbouring countries and found that Hungary lags behind in giving its military “sufficient powers to act”. For example, in France more than a thousand soldiers had to be deployed in wake of the Paris attacks, he said. Hungarian soldiers are already fighting terrorism from Afghanistan to Iraq, but at the current time they lack the powers to do the same at home. “Nobody should think that the government is after some kind of absolute power and they would unjustifiably use the army,” he insisted. “When there is a threat of terror, every means must be available,” he said.

Of future plans Chief of Staff Tibor Benko said this year’s priorities would be recruitment, retention and capability development. Speaking at the same press conference, he said a new military police organisation would be set up from March at Budapest’s Petofi barracks, with new nationwide powers. He said the special operations task force, which earlier operated as a battalion, has been upgraded to a regiment with 1,200 men. Ten new training units have also been formed in order to help animate reserve forces regionally, he said. Simicsko added that deputy state secretary Istvan Kun Szabo has been tasked as a ministerial commissioner to develop Hungary’s volunteer reserve force.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters