A Volunteer Reserve System was established in Hungary on 1 January, 2011. At fifty-seven barracks and military establishments of the HDF security guards have been replaced by reservists. The Hungarian Defence Forces have started to set up a Volunteer Reserve Force with the authorization of the Parliament.

The reservists made their first public appearance in Budapest, Győr and Debrecen on 2 January, 2011. General Tibor Benkő was received with military honours at HDF Support Brigade. Chief of Defence, accompanied by Dr Gábor Szarka Head of the Cabinet Office, Major General István Juhász Director of Staff HDF General Staff and several representatives of the MoD watched the changing of the guards. Dr Tibor Benkő said: From 1 January fifty-seven military facilities will be guarded by armed reservists. In peacetime truncheons and side-arms, in emergency situations AK-63 (assault rifles) can be used.
Last year the HDF had only eighteen soldiers in reserve. By early 2011the number of reservists guarding the Hungarian barracks has increased to over two-thousand.
The major step towards setting up a reservist system was taken last December when the Home Defence Act No. 105 of 2004 was amended by two-thirds majority vote. The military training of the reservists had already been started last November.
By setting up a volunteer reserve system, disaster recovery tasks and protection of the military ’critical infrastructure’ can be effectively accomplished. In emergency situations the reservists can be immediately deployed. Moreover they can carry out host nation support tasks. By setting up a Volunteer Reserve System Force Protection Capabilities will also be improved in Hungary.

Translated by Dóra Darnyik