Today in Parliament we have adopted two important laws which will elevate the cause of defence, and will result in the transformation and reinforcement of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the development of an efficient and modern army”, Szilárd Németh said at a press conference.
The Parliamentary State Secretary and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Defence stressed that it is, to a large extent, thanks to the Hungarian Defence Forces and the police officers who perform border guarding responsibilities that today Hungary is one of the world’s and Europe’s safest countries.
“The world around us is becoming ever tenser, and there is increasing terrorist pressure on Europe as well. Without a strong army there is no strong country. It is the Hungarian Defence Forces that guarantee the security of the Hungarian people and the peace of our country”, Mr Németh underlined.
The Parliamentary State Secretary also said that today in Parliament they voted for laws related to defence which the government party sees as a national affair. “Parliament has raised the personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces to 37,500: this represents an increase of 13,600 compared with the personnel authorised in 2010”, Mr Németh said. He highlighted that they extended the possibility of providing compensation for overtime both in time off and in monetary terms until 31 December 2022.
Regarding the maximum age for military service, Mr Németh said the maximum age for military service is not limited to 40 years in a single country in Europe. It is higher everywhere: for instance, in Slovenia it is 63, in Poland it is 60, while in Romania it is 55 years. In the context of the newly-introduced state of defence emergency, the Parliamentary State Secretary highlighted that in peace time this means availability, and this new scenario was warranted by a change in our security environment.
“We have also created a new law which provides that the civilian workers of the Hungarian Defence Forces will be able to continue their employment in the future as defence workers. From January defence workers will receive a 20 per cent pay rise, followed by 5 per cent pay rises three times, meaning a 35 per cent pay rise in total, and they will also be in a more favourable situation as regards additional benefits”, Mr Németh said.
The Parliamentary State Secretary added that also in 2019 there will be an allocation in the budget for the implementation of the Defence and Military Supplies Development Programme. Next year’s allocation of HUF 513 billion represents an increase of HUF 86 billion on this year’s. Mr Németh highlighted that already at this point in time defence developments have a number of achievements to boast. He mentioned as examples the arms assembled by Hungarian experts which were introduced to the public on Tuesday, and the aircraft procured to date. The Parliamentary State Secretary also said that in the future the Ministry is planning to procure another A319 Airbus and three military cargo aircraft.
(Ministry of Defence)
