Several military convoys are to occupy numerous Hungarian roads this week, mainly in the Eastern regions of Hungary, according to the Ministry of Defence. The ministry added that nobody should be concerned because that would only be a rearrangement of the units. The operation will take place on Wednesday and Thursday.
Blikk.hu wrote that the roads concerned included main roads nr 41 and 47 and the M3 and M35 motorways. The counties where the operation will take place are Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar, Békés and Csongrád-Csanád. Residents are asked to pay extra attention because the speed and length of the military convoys differ from familiar traffic, just like the vehicles’ size.
Importantly, civilian cars and trucks may not enter the military convoys. Therefore, special vehicles will escort the convoys in the front and in the end.
NATO may start an investigation against Hungary because the government sacked hundreds of high-ranking military officers who reached the age of 45. The Orbán cabinet highlighted there were no political reasons behind sending those people into retirement. The opposition believes the motive is purely political. Orbán wants to give way to a new military officer generation, which is not that NATO-friendly.
This is why so many officers are sent into retirement
A new government decree allows military officers to retire after at least 25 years in active service, and reaching the age of 45. The Hungarian defence minister talked about the importance of rejuvenation and argued that young officers learn and use modern devices, but older servicemen do not. He also added that the military needed officers speaking foreign languages and obtaining international experience, index.hu wrote.
The trade union supported the idea. Meanwhile, it caused aversion in some NATO members. They argue that the Hungarian government sends away a generation that worked together with NATO. The Financial Times names István Juhász, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and later in the USA. Military sources say the decree and the swiftness of its execution shocked military officers.
There are too many officers in the system, so reforms are needed. In the USA, 18 percent of the military are officers, while in Hungary, that rate is 23 percent.
PM Orbán and the commander of the Hungarian Armed Forces, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi:
NATO worries
Ágnes Vadai, an MP of opposition DK and a former defence secretary, said that the government fires ‘NATO friend’ officers. Other opposition politicians believe the government would like new officers in positions, who share their pro-Russia views. Interestingly, nobody knows the number of officers the government sent into retirement. Vadai mentioned 170 and 1,000.
Experts say the Hungarian armed forces did their job well in NATO. A high-ranking NATO official said that such a move is a warning sign. Dr Péter Wágner, a foreign policy analyst, said the new military officer generation is just as NATO-friendly as the previous one was.
Tom Rogan, a national security journalist, wrote before that Hungary should be excluded from NATO because of PM Viktor Orbán. He suggested that Turkey and Hungary would not protect other NATO members in case of an attack.
Slovakia is one of Hungary’s closest allies, and the two countries are dedicated to maintaining close and regular dialogue, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Hungary’s defence minister, said after meeting his counterpart, Jaroslav Nad, in Budapest.
“Slovakia and Hungary are neighbouring countries and our history, culture and the current situation form many ties between us,” Szalay-Bobrovniczky said. “Also, we are both dedicated NATO allies,” he added. He said he was in agreement with Nad that strengthening NATO’s eastern flank was important. The meeting also covered the discussion of Hungary’s participation, together with the Czech Republic and Poland, of air policing tasks in the skies above Slovakia until Slovakia’s own fighter jets arrive, he added.
They also noted that the Headquarters Multinational Division-Centre (HQ MND-C) in Szekesfehervar, in western Hungary, will soon be headed by a Slovak general. The minister said he had also told Nad about Hungary’s military recruitment push. Members of the young generation are also being appointed officers and gaining experience in international and NATO missions, he said. This strengthens the Hungarian military and allows the country to engage in “more youthful and dynamic” cooperation with its allies, he added.
Szalay-Bobrovniczky said he and Nad had also discussed the war in Ukraine. He emphasised that Hungary’s position had not changed since the outbreak of the war. “We are on the side of peace and we’d like there to be peace talks as soon as possible,” he said. Hungary condemns Russia’s aggression against independent Ukraine and stands by Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence, the minister said.
The talks also touched on the situation in the Western Balkans, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said, adding he had thanked Nad for the police officers Slovakia had assigned to Hungary’s southern border. Nad welcomed that cooperation between the two countries was problem-free in all areas including defence. He said there were issues on which Slovakia and Hungary were in full agreement and issues on which they were not, adding that those were the issues they needed to reach an agreement on.
He praised the cooperation in the work of the Szekesfehervar-based HQ MND-C. Concerning the war in Ukraine, he said the two countries mutually respected each other’s position and were seeking pragmatic solutions that could help Ukraine defend itself. Meanwhile, he said the agreement on the air policing mission was expected to be signed at the meeting of the Visegrád Group’s defence ministers in the spring.
Multiple Hungarian media outlets reported that Hungary’s defence minister sacked hundreds of high-ranking military officers. The people concerned have two months to leave and will get 70 percent of their current salaries as a pension-like allowance even if they continue to work. The minister says the move served the rejuvenation and modernisation of the army. The opposition believes the government fired pro-NATO officers.
Hungarian military officers fired
The ministry of defence began to sack hundreds of high-ranking military officers, including generals and colonels. The decision follows a government decree allowing officers to retire after 25 years in service. It seems, in most cases, the minister and the ministry decide instead of the officers.
The ministry says this move served the aim to modernise the army and pave the way to the rise of a new officer generation. Media reports about more than a hundred generals, colonels and other high-ranking officers sent away. Meanwhile, the former defence secretary and the Democratic Coalition’s MP, Ágnes Vadai, counted around 170 officers on Thursday. She added the officers sent away were pro-NATO. Based on information she acquired from the ministry, the final number can reach one thousand, telex.hu wrote. Political loyalty will be the deciding factor in the Hungarian Defence Forces, she highlighted. The ministry did not answer the questions of Telex.
Defence minister discusses defence cooperation with Serbian counterpart
Hungary and Serbia agree that peace in Ukraine is a priority, and that small and mid-size countries are especially vulnerable to the consequences of the war, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said after meeting Milos Vucevic, his Serbian counterpart, in Belgrade on Friday. The ministers discussed cooperation opportunities between the countries and the ministries.
Hungary has consistently called for a ceasefire and for peace since the war started, Szalay-Bobrovniczky stressed after the talks. At the same time, this is the first time in the history of both countries that they had to react to changing security situations from the east and the south simultaneously, he said. Serbia is “the leading country of the Western Balkans”, and the region faces ongoing security threats, Szalay-Bobrovniczky underlined. Tensions have escalated between Serbia and Kosovo lately, he noted. Hungary supports Serbia’s EU accession because it would aid the stability of the region, he said.
Hungary has sent troops to the region to improve stability, the defence minister said. “Hungary has significant troops in NATO’s mission in Kosovo, and headed the force’s command in the past year,” he explained. The commander’s work “in a very precarious time and place” was praised by the Serbian, Kosovan and international communities, Szalay-Bobrovniczky added. Hungarian troops are also involved in the EU’s mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a Hungarian commander will take over leadership there next year, he added. The ministers discussed the achievements of Hungarian-Serbian defence cooperation as well as future possibilities in the defence industry, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
Though it has not been confirmed yet, according to Hungarian press information, Hungary considers the acquisition of HIMARS missile systems.
Multiple sources close to the Hungarian Ministry of Defence told Szabad Európa that there is a discussion about Hungary acquiring US-built HIMARS missile systems. The site has learned that this is not the first time that the purchase of missile systems has been considered. The case of a possible acquisition has allegedly been raised for years.
What could the army use them for?
The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) has the advantage to change position quickly, so it can move on right after the deployment. This makes the system less easy to be targeted and destroyed by the enemy.
The Hungarian defence forces do not currently have any such system. According to a source Szabad Európa contacted with,
fortunately, the assumption is completely unrealistic, but imagine an opponent army approaching the Hungarian border. HIMARS could be used to shoot out a bridge they want to cross up to eighty to one hundred kilometres away from the border […]. That is, HIMARS is very effective in support of any defensive operation.
In fact, the United States is supplying the Ukrainian army with exactly this type of missile system. The Ukrainian army seems to be making use of these missile launchers. Without them, as one informant said, they would not have been able to recapture Herson.
This acquisition would not be unusual, since almost every country in the region already has HIMARS missile systems or is planning to acquire them. As Szabad Európa reports,
among the NATO member states in the region, only Slovakia, Croatia and Hungary have not yet purchased the US missile systems.
When asked how much the Hungarian state would get, one informant said it would probably need about half as much as Romania. According to the portal, Romania is planning to buy 54 missile systems. This means that Hungary would need about 27 of them.
The portal emphasises that none of their information is official at the moment. They tried to contact the Ministry of Defence regarding the issue, but so far no response has been received.
A few years ago, the Orbán government embarked on a major military build-up, but they also started to develop the domestic defence industry. Two defence factories are already in operation and four are in the construction or planning phase. The priority is for the Hungarian military factories being built to produce for export as well as to meet domestic needs.
According to Telex.hu, the military industry has not received much attention in recent decades, given that obsolete Soviet-era equipment still makes up the bulk of the equipment even now. The government invested little money and energy in developing the army, and the domestic military industry almost disappeared. The only major player left was the Sirok ammunition factory, which produced small calibre handguns. However, even that is now owned by a foreign company.
Domestic defence industry – thousands of billions of forints
Recently, the government decided to improve the domestic defence industry and to purchase weapons worth thousands of billions of forints. The government will be assisted in the construction by a German company, Rheinmetall, which has a long and respected track record among European defence companies. The majority owner is the German arms manufacturer, which owns 51 percent of the joint venture.
Of the six new Hungarian military factories, Rheinmetall will be involved in the construction and operation of the next four: a munitions and explosives plant will be built in Várpalota, where production is expected to start in the second half of 2024. A radar manufacturing plant is being built in Nyírtelek, where assembly will take place from 2025.
In Kaposvár, the production of a four-wheel-drive armoured vehicle with mine protection will take place in the near future. There is talk of extending Turkish-Hungarian cooperation in Kaposvár to the production of drones and other autonomous flying devices. A plant for the production of infantry fighting vehicles has been built in Zalaegerszerg, where the test track for combat vehicles is located. Here, the test run took place in the second half of 2022, with series production starting in 2023.
Production has already started in two other factories, but these are not linked to Rheinmetall: the helicopter parts factory in Gyula, 51 percent of which is owned by Airbus, was inaugurated in 2022. In Kiskunfélegyháza, the small arms factory of the Hungarian state-owned HM Arzenál Zrt. manufactures machine guns, submachine guns and handguns. Serial production of sniper rifles is also expected to start soon, and a Hungarian family of weapons has recently been developed.
Hungarian military factories’ products in demand abroad
At five of the six factories, it is so far certain that they produce equipment for the Hungarian armed forces. No specific deal has been reached yet, but they are keen to export domestically produced armoured vehicles, radars, small arms and ammunition. In the Central and Eastern European region, there is still a lot of outdated technology from the Soviet era. Therefore, there might be a demand for advanced equipment based on Western knowledge.
“We create joint ventures with leading players in the market because we expect a clear return, a market result,”
said Gáspár Maróth earlier to Portfolio.hu, coordinating Hungarian defence developments for years. In 2021, he said they saw a high degree of expansion in the global defence industry. Since then, due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, many countries started to consolidate their own defence industry.
According to a press release, there will also be branches in Budapest, Szeged and Zalaegerszeg for the defence innovation research institute, which will bring back “lost” engineering knowledge to the Hungarian defence industry.
A Russian Twitter user suggested her compatriots shoot down the C-17 military carriers in Pápa, Hungary. Her tweet has almost 70 thousand views and 830 comments. Shooting these planes down would be an escalation of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and a possible start of WW3.
The microblogger did not receive too many positive remarks under her post, portfolio.hu wrote. Many highlighted that shooting down NATO planes would not solve the situation. Thus, the user tweeting under the name of Oksana suggested that Russian aircraft should bomb military airfields.
In her original tweet, Oksana asked whether planes supplying ammunition and arms to Ukraine should be “taken care of” by the Russian military before they land. To support that question, she posted a photo of a C-17 Globemaster carrier serving the military alliance from the Pápa airbase in West Hungary. The military aircraft delivered artillery shells to Ukraine, based on a post shared by Ukraine’s government.
According to portfolio.hu, she received harsh criticism from pro-Ukraine colleagues under the tweet. Users wrote that an act like that could trigger the start of WW3.
One of them said Russia would not be able to fight against the US military. Then Oksana said Russia should bomb the airfields where the carriers take off and land. A Norwegian top commenter said Russia should stop attacking its neighbours and start acting as a functioning member of the world’s community.
Finally, the Russian microblogger turned off the comments. C-17 carriers in Pápa are not Hungarian aircraft despite their base being in Hungary and obtaining a Hungarian mark. All NATO members can use those planes theoretically.
14 hours ago, she tweeted how she liked that her tweet angered NATO fans:
A Hungarian woman has been accused of stealing Ukrainian medical supplies. The disappearance of the shipment caused damage worth millions of dollars. Donations to the soldiers were also confiscated by the name ‘Mockingjay’, Fajd’s callsign in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
Earlier, Emese Fajk, the perpetrator was exposed in Australia after allegedly using fake ANZ. The purpose of this was to win The Block, a reality show auction in 2020, and to pay for the property. According to TransTelex.ro, she had transferred the bid she promised according to screenshots sent to the producer, but it had not actually arrived. Fajk blamed her alleged lawyer and promised to solve the problem within days.
In a blog post, she said that she was trying to reach the channel on the problem in vain, so she had to give up buying the property. She fled the country, but in 2022, she got in trouble again when allegedly stole from her landlord and also her partner in Portugal, where she had previously changed her name to Abigél Fuchs.
In July, she appeared in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion as communications director. Some of her supervisors found her behaviour suspicious, so they started to investigate her life voluntarily. Daily Mail Australia outlined the allegations.
“It is a nearly unanimously held belief within the legion that she is cancer on the organization that must be excised lest she destroys the entire body of the organization itself,” concluded the report the legion issued. “In every aspect of her job, she has been proven to be an abject failure.”
Photo: Twitter/lnedos
Accused of stealing medical supplies and funding
The disappearance of the shipment caused damage worth USD 2.5 million (AUD 3.67 million). The products were mostly painkillers such as fentanyl, ketamine, and lidocaine among other drugs, but she is also accused of stealing donations intended for the war effort. The supplies the military was expecting were never delivered, so they made efforts to locate them. After confronting Fajk, she said she had nothing to do with the missing shipment, but the delivery man claimed that she was present when it arrived. The director who organised the shipment confirmed that the shipment never made it to the soldiers.
“A good friend of mine was in agony for three hours, it’s a miracle he didn’t die of shock, because he didn’t have the supplies he was supposed to.”
Another one of the kind.
Australian scammer / @Int_Legion_UA ‘volunteer’, Emese Fajk, (a.k.a. ‘Mockingjay’ 😅) stole US$2.5 million shipment of medical supplies designated for Ukrainian Army and syphoning off donations intended for Ukraine’s war.
After that, when Fajd was getting herself repeatedly in trouble, some of the medical supplies were found, such as the full shipment of Propofol and about half of the other medicines.
Huge amounts of the donation intended for the army disappeared and were “confiscated Mockingjay and sent to places unknown,” wrote the report. She was caught on record admitting she “routinely utilised the funds in this account for personal profit.”
Compulsive liar: two lies and a truth?
Earlier, the community in Transylvania heard about her in one of the TEDx motivational speeches held in Tirgu Mures, Romania. “I own my own company, Anakin, a consultancy firm, clients including the United Nations and Apple, specialising in counterterrorism, peacekeeping and cyber security,” visitors can read on the site of the TED event.
TransTelex contacted Péter W. Szabó, the curator of TEDx, who met her in London. She told him very convincingly about her life, and he never doubted the truth of what she said. Péter W. Szabó suggested her to give a TEDx talk.
“The only reason she could do it was to further her credibility. TEDx speakers don’t get paid to perform, so there was no financial gain for her.”
After her scandal in Australia in 2020, the video was deleted from the channel, so she cannot use it anymore as a reference. She really did own Anakin Consultancy. The name existed in the registry of the British company registration office, which was indeed owned by Fajk. However, she probably did not have any relationship with United Nations and Apple. Emese Fajk was its only employee and director, and it was shut down in 2019. The Instagram profile of the company has 13 followers.
Some people she got to know in Cluj-Napoca, Romania confirmed that she was often caught on lying. When they confronted her, she further compounded the lies. She had to leave her rental apartments and move to another because of variable reasons, such as “crazy landlords”. There were also people from whom she borrowed and then did never pay back. Sometimes he would leave the apartment unexpectedly, without paying, and without any of her belongings.
Even Pablito’s Way, a popular YouTube channel dealing with mainstream news made a video of her.
Fajd being on the TV show ‘The Block’ Photo: video from YouTube/PablitosWay
A smear campaign?
“Anyone can write so-called reports, but these reports would need to be backed up with evidence. I will be more than happy to work with any authorities conducting any official investigations. Otherwise, this is hearsay and nothing but a smear campaign,” she reacted to the accusations, according to Daily Mail.
“While evidence to substantiate these claims has been promised by several people repeatedly, to this day the evidence was never forthcoming,” she wrote in a Facebook post addressing journalists. According to her, both Ground Forces and SBU representatives assured Fajk that there are no ongoing investigations against or about her.
Facebook post from 4 January 2023, 10:35 PM Photo: Facebook/Emese Abigail Fayk
The report wrote that this scandal planted the image in people’s minds that the Ukrainian Legion was corrupt, untrustworthy, unprepared, and incompetent. Initially, the volunteers were not well-filtered by the Ukrainian authorities. That is the reason why an international ‘conwoman’ like Fajk could have ended up in the legion.
Security, as the year 2022 has shown, is Hungary’s most valued asset, and maintaining it is the most important objective for the Hungarian government, the defence minister said on Friday, in a year-end message.
“There is nothing without security,” Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in a video message on Facebook, adding that this is why the government continues to promote peace, and is working to prevent the country from “drifting into a war”, and is further developing its defence capabilities.
He noted that the government had further raised the wages of soldiers who as a result “could take home 20 percent more from September”. The wage increases will continue in 2024, the minister said.
The upgrade of the army has also continued with Hungary’s taking delivery of a batch of Lynx combat vehicles and PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers.
The minister thanked the troops for their “patriotic” service throughout the year and Hungarian people for their support to the armed forces and cooperation in protecting Hungary’s security.
Next year’s budget ensures the continued reform of Hungary’s Armed Forces and will enable the country to bring defence spending up to 2 percent of GDP a year earlier than originally planned, in line with Hungary’s commitment to NATO, the defence minister said on Wednesday.
Hungary’s Defence Fund guarantees that the country will be able to purchase all equipment necessary for effective defence and “restore the prestige of Hungarian troops,” the ministry cited Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky as saying in a statement.
The Armed Forces will prioritise R+D+I, and contribute to a robust economy by boosting the defence industry, he said. In line with NATO requirements, over 20 percent of defence spending will go towards development in 2023, he added.
Next year, development will focus on soldiers’ individual and operational equipment, the integration of the equipment purchased so far, and the introduction of new strike technology, he said.
Defence innovation is in the interest of Hungary’s national security as it eases the country’s dependence on imports and boosts supply security, he said.
Defence development will also improve Hungary’s position within NATO, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said, noting that Hungarian Gripens had protected the Baltic airspace for four months this year, and the Kosovo KFOR mission operated under Hungarian command. One of the four task forces set up in response to the Ukraine-Russia war was created in Hungary, under Hungarian command, he added.
The Hungarian Armed Forces will have its stock of small arms replaced with arms manufactured under a Czech licence, the defence minister said in Kiskunfélegyháza, in southern Hungary, on Thursday.
Czech firearms manufacturer Colt CZ Group on Thursday said it signed a joint venture agreement with Hungary’s state-owned N7 National Defence Industry Innovation Holding to establish a small arms production facility in Hungary.
The firearms will be produced both for the Hungarian Armed Forces and the international market, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in a video posted on Facebook.
The minister called the partnership a “very important step in the development of the Hungarian military and the Hungarian defence industry”.
Szalay-Bobrovniczky said he firmly believed that Hungary should not just purchase equipment, but also “create an innovation platform, opportunities for innovation, jobs and generate tax revenue” in the interest of reducing its dependence on arms suppliers.
A US-made second world war aerial bomb weighing 500kg discovered by a dredger in the Petroleum bay of the Danube river at south Budapest’s Csepel district on Tuesday has been neutralised, the Hungarian army bomb squad reported.
The bomb had ignition devices at both ends and these had to be deactivated before it could be neutralised and then transported by boat to a depository. An exclusion zone was set up for the operation which has since been opened.
The Hungarian government is building a “brave, innovative and high-tech military”, the defence minister said on Thursday, at the groundbreaking ceremony of an ammunition factory in Várpalota, on Thursday.
Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the military should be a “self-supporting, independent system”, and such projects as the new plant were instrumental in its development.
The new plant will supply ammunition for weapons also produced in Hungary, thus “filling a great gap in domestic and European domestic capabilities”, he said.
The ceremony marks the beginning of the construction of a defence industry park with nearly 200 new jobs. The new plant will produce ammunition for Lynx tanks, as well as Leopard 2A7HU and PzH 2000 HU Howitzers from 2024 on, the minister said.
The minister said the Rheinmetall Group would in future supply Hungary with an “arsenal” to equip infantry fighting vehicles and tanks, while the defence industry park’s four square kilometres would incorporate five facilities producing a wide range of ammunitions and explosives for the Hungarian military. He added that large-scale developments in terms of the combat capabilities of the military would not only contribute to the country’s security but would also increase NATO’s stability.
Rheinmetall AG chief Armin Papperger said the new plant, built with a budget of 250-300 million euros, would significantly increase Hungary’s role in ensuring security for the region.
Military equipment manufactured in Hungary helps bolster security, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said at the signing of a joint venture agreement between the defence ministry and Germany’s Dynamit Nobel Defence in Budapest on Friday.
The joint venture will help start the rebuilding of Hungary’s defence industry which had declined “mainly due to decades of irresponsible political decisions”, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said at the ceremony. Hungary’s military will now have equipment that will guarantee the security of the Hungarian people, he said.
The minister said the joint venture agreement was the result of years of hard work by many people and a milestone in strengthening Hungary’s military strength and economy. The cooperation between the defence ministry and Dynamit Nobel Defence will create jobs, generate tax revenue and boost the reputation of the Hungarian economy, he added. It will also help prevent any disadvantages from potential supply chain disruptions, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
The agreement was signed by Dynamit Nobel Defence CEO Michael Humbek and László Palkovics, CEO of defence industry innovation holding company N7 Nemzeti Védelmi Ipari Innovation Holding.
Avishay Regev, head of Dynamit Nobel Defence’s supervisory board, praised Hungary’s favourable investment environment and skilled workforce. He said Hungary was led by a government that ensured the protection of its own and the European Union’s borders and was committed to boosting the country’s defence capabilities.
Regev highlighted the cooperation between Germany and Hungary’s armed forces, noting that they used and would continue to use some of the same defence systems.
Hungary will purchase one of the world’s most modern radar systems from Israel, the defence minister told commercial news channel Hír TV on Wednesday evening.
The radar system forms part of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system. The delivery of the system and Norwegian-US missiles, components of a rapid defence system, will start early 2023, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
The minister noted that Hungary had launched a large-scale military and defence upgrade programme in 2016-2017 which he said “has proven to be a good decision in light of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war”. Hungary is purchasing military hardware to strengthen its air defence system and its troops, he said.
“The aim is to ensure that the Hungarian air defence system covers the country’s entire territory,” Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
The defence minister inspected the Iron Dome system with President Katalin Novák during their official visit to Israel last week.
President Katalin Novák and Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on Wednesday inspected Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system.
Szalay-Bobrovniczky told journalists that he and President Novák had attended “important” meetings at the invitation of Israel’s president and prime minister-elect, as well as Israel’s outgoing PM. He said bilateral relations “have been very good for a very long time”, especially when it comes to defence matters.
Hungary is examining Iron Dome, especially in light of Tuesday’s events in Ukraine, the minister said. In addition, it is studying Israel’s “well-structured” high-tech cooperation between its defence industry, army and air force.
President Katalin Novák, arriving in Israel on a two-day working visit on Wednesday at the invitation of President Isaac Herzog, visited the Yad Vashem Institute, the Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem. Dani Dayan, Yad Vashem’s president, received President Novák who viewed the Hall of Names and the Children’s Memorial. She lit the eternal candle before placing a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance.
The president also talked to Holocaust survivors in the Holocaust Museum’s educational centre. She declared it “our duty” to remember the victims of the Holocaust and to apologise to the survivors. Parents, she said, are best suited to educating their children about history and the need to prevent horrors like the Holocaust.
Dayan said everyone’s duty was to confront anti-Semitism forcefully and nip it in the bud as soon as it is first manifested. After her meeting with President Herzog on Thursday, the Hungarian president will meet Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu and acting Prime Minister Jair Lapid.
Turkey and Hungary’s defence ministers on Monday initialled an agreement on establishing the legal conditions for future military cooperation.
The two countries are partners and allies in terms of trade, culture and defence, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Hungary’s defence minister, said in Ankara after meeting Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar.
The ministry said in a statement that Szalay-Bobrovniczky praised high-level bilateral ties based on mutual trust.
Both countries want peace in Ukraine and promote this position at every possible opportunity, the statement said.
“We highly appreciate [Turkish] efforts made towards peace as mediators between the warring parties,”
Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in Ankara.
He noted Turkey’s humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Hungarian efforts to help people fleeing the war.
Both ministers emphasised the importance of NATO anticipating threats from all sides, including combatting terrorism. Turkey and Hungary are both committed and respected members of NATO, the statement said.
Both officials also were in agreement on the importance of maintaining stability of the Western Balkans, noting that a Hungarian commander headed KFOR until recently and Turkey will take over the command from Italy in a year’s time.
The two countries’ armed forces cooperate in priority areas: Hungary established a battle group aimed at strengthening NATO’s eastern wing after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, and Turkey is a member.
Hungary is in the process of replacing outdated military technology with NATO-compatible equipment, the minister noted, adding that Turkey’s defense industry is also a supplier. Hungary has put 10 Gidran combat vehicles manufactured in Turkey into service, while another forty will be assembled in Hungary.
During Szalay-Bobrovniczky’s two-day visit, a monument commemorating the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchial Army will be unveiled, marking the historical relationship between the two countries in the first world war. Also, the countries are celebrating the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2024 with a series of cultural events.
Peace and security in the Western Balkans is of paramount importance for Hungary, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, commander of the Hungarian military, said after talks with Vasko Gjurchinovski, chief of staff of North Macedonia’s armed forces, in Budapest on Wednesday.
North Macedonia is key in keeping peace and security in the region, the Hungarian commander said.
At their annual meeting, the two military leaders reviewed the situation in the Western Balkans and agreed that Hungarian troops serving in the region would participate in exercises organised in North Macedonia. They also discussed the future of the EUFOR Althea mission, Hungary’s military reform and North Macedonia’s military plans, Ruszin-Szendi said.
Referring to the war in Ukraine, Ruszin-Szendi said he had shared with Gjurchinovski information Hungary had gained as “a NATO front country”. Concerning illegal migration, Ruszin-Szendi said North Macedonia’s experience was indispensable for Hungary to prepare for a possible increase in the pressure posed by migration. He expressed the Hungarian government’s support for the EU integration of the whole of the Western Balkans.
