“On Saturday, over a hundred soldiers will be setting out to the Slovakian and Austrian borders, primarily in the interests of reinforcing the border barrier” Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő said on Hír Tv’s “Hungary Live” show on Friday, confirming the statements made at the press conference following the meeting of the Operational Staff.

According to the Minister, while the police will be assuring the security of border traffic, the soldiers will be tasked with ensuring that nobody can cross the border anywhere else, either by car or on foot. The Minister also spoke about the fact that it is totally unfounded that the appearance of soldiers on the streets is frightening, because they are there precisely to aid the country’s population no matter what situation may arise.

In reply to a question from host Andrea Földi-Kovács on whether soldiers are also involved in securing humanitarian corridors, Mr. Benkő said that here too the Hungarian Defence Force is supporting the work of police; the soldiers are there at the designated locations and are helping to monitor traffic.

In response to pieces of news being spread on the internet concerning the fact that American military units have appeared in certain countries and have also been transporting military equipment, Mr. Benkő said international military exercises had been ongoing in several areas in Europe, and these have been stopped, and the military forces now need to be regrouped to where they set out from to take part in the exercises.

“They are not there because of the virus epidemic, but because they are on their way back to their original garrisons”, the Minister of Defence stated.

In reply to a question concerning whether the appearance of soldiers on the streets is frightening to citizens, Mr. Benkő underlined that the Hungarian soldier has always helped the country’s population, and whatever happened, the Hungarian soldier was always there to provide assistance by maintaining order.

“There is no need to be frightened of the soldiers, but quite the opposite”, he added.

(Mnistry of Defence/MTI)