“The legal framework of the Volunteer Reserve System has been established alongside the labor law guarantees of the reservist service, and the tasks of the volunteer defence reservists and the volunteer operational reservists have been set” – Csaba Hende said in his answer during question time. Speaking at the Parliament sitting on Monday, April 16, the Minister of Defence reasserted that the Hungarian Defence Forces would have 8,000 reservists by the end of 2014.

Answering a question about bringing the Volunteer Reserve System to full strength, Csaba Hende pointed out that the National Assembly had passed some 28 laws, from the Fundamental Law of Hungary to the National Defence Act and the tax regulations; and it had set the tasks of the volunteer defence reservists and the volunteer operational reservists. Accordingly, the defence reservists’ primary tasks are related to guarding and security (force protection) and disaster relief, while the operational reservists do active duty service and may be required to execute all kinds of tasks in the Hungarian Defence Forces. 

Csaba Hende highlighted that the number of reservists would reach 8,000 by the end of 2014.

In his answer, the Minister stated that the defence portfolio had created the labor law guarantees of the reservist service. Neither the employees applying for volunteer reservist status nor their employers will suffer any losses due to the reservist service. Accordingly, in the case of the active duty service, it provides financial compensation for the employers of the competitive sector for the given period; at the same time, it means protection against being given notice and leave without pay for the employee reservists.

The Minister also emphasized that in the case of the public servant officials, the actual time of the volunteer reserve service must double count in getting promotion.

(MoD Press Office)