Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky: the development of the armed forces must be accelerated

The development of the armed forces must be accelerated, because the war in Ukraine “fundamentally changed everything”, the Minister of National Defense stated on Friday in Csongrád.

Photo: MTI/Tibor Rosta

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said at the handover of the new education center of the Diana Weapons Technical College and College that the task is to enable the Hungarian army and, indirectly, society to protect Hungary and guarantee the safety of the Hungarian people.

On its own and connected to the international defense system, since the two cannot work without each other, he added.

Among the steps in military development, the politician highlighted the rearmament of the Hungarian armed forces first.

Developments starting from the ground up affect all armed forces and all equipment, said the minister, and in addition to the Lynx armored infantry fighting vehicles, he mentioned the Gestamen weapon family, the team trials of the pistol version of which have already begun.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky emphasized that the military industry has serious traditions in Hungary, but it has to be rebuilt practically from scratch, partly due to the zeitgeist and partly due to the “negligence” of the governments.

The Hungarian military industry makes a serious contribution to rearming the armed forces and increasing their combat capabilities, the minister said.

However, the politician called the transformation of the “human side” of the armed forces the most important.

This requires both organizational changes and the development of combat morale so that the Hungarian soldier has authority and respect. For this purpose, exercises not used before are carried out, and new elements appear in the training, he said.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky drew attention to the recently established Territorial Defense Forces Command, which covers the entire country and is based on local reservists.

The minister also spoke about the Honvéd cadet program, which this year was joined by 7,109 young people in 125 secondary institutions.

Sándor Farkas (Fidesz), the region’s parliamentary representative, explained that the students who attend the Diana Weapons Technical College, in addition to high-level professional knowledge, also receive a set of values ​​and an outlook on life that is greatly needed in society.

Gábor Bozó, the director of the school, said that the weapons technician, weapon manufacturing specialist, and weapon manufacturing master training in Csongrád goes back several decades.

In the modern building of the technical school, the conditions for dual education at European standards are given. 400-500 students will study at the technical school, and the institution will graduate a hundred highly qualified specialists in the national defense sector every year.