“The NCOs and enlisted personnel serving with the Hungarian Defence Forces are going to receive a gross salary supplement of HUF 10,000 per month until the comprehensive introduction of the new public service career path model” – Minister of Defence Csaba Hende announced on Monday, February 10 at the annual assessment and tasking meeting of military leaders.

The Minister said that, starting from March onwards, the around 12,600 soldiers involved would receive their pay rise retrospectively from January, until the new career path model enters into force, which includes a system of higher remunerations. As Csaba Hende pointed out, in its decision taken on Wednesday, February 5, the government had undertaken to increase the defence budget with an additional funding of HUF 1.8 billion, which is needed to provide the additional remuneration.

Csaba Hende also noted that the government is committed to working out a mortgage program for new public service employees, but is still looking for a suitable alternative. This program can be taken into account already in this year, the Minister added, and went on pointing out that this measure would be a big step forward in creating financial security for professional soldiers, as it would solve the military families’ housing problems.

Speaking at the tasking meeting, the Minister of Defence stressed that although 2014 is the year of parliamentary elections, the work of the Hungarian Defence Forces is not subordinated to political cycles. At the same time, he asked everybody to refrain from expressing political opinions while wearing the uniform.

Recalling last year’s most important events, the Minister reminded his audience that the Hungarian Defence Forces had proven again that they can be relied on under any circumstances. He said the HDF had carried out successful missions in dealing with two natural disasters, during the snow situation in March and the protection against the flood on River Danube in June. In was in these missions that the volunteer reservists saw action for the first time, which also showed that the volunteer reserve system is a real capability adding to the power of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Csaba Hende said that according to plans, the whole system would be completed in this year.

At the conference, Csaba Hende also talked about a recent representative survey conducted by Századvég public opinion poll institute, which shows that 99.5 per cent of Hungarian people have assessed the work done by the Hungarian Defence Forces as satisfactory, good, or excellent.

At present, close to 700 Hungarian troops are deployed with peace support missions in Western Sahara, Uganda, Cyprus, Congo, Mali, Georgia, the Sinai Peninsula, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. Csaba Hende noted that last year had seen some significant changes in the Afghanistan mission. The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) returned to Hungary, just like the Kabul International Airport (KAIA) Force Protection Contingent and the Mi–35 Air Mentor Team. The ISAF mission is going to end this year, and as yet the details of Operation “Resolute Support”, to be launched in 2015, have not been disclosed.

According to the Minister, everywhere they went, the Hungarian soldiers have earned recognition from our allies and the local people. As a result, the Hungarian Defence Forces have received new tasks, so Hungarian soldiers will soon be tasked with flying air policing missions over Slovenia and the Baltic states.

Csaba Hende also pointed out that the financial management of the Hungarian Defence Forces has further improved last year. The Military Hospital has started out on the way of consolidation, and the defence industry has also produced some important results. As he noted, the latter does not only have commercial significance, as the drones (unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs), for example, played an important role in last year’s flood protection activities too. Furthermore, a final decision has been reached on the issue of the 3D radar compound to be built at Medina, the Minister stressed.

The Minister also said that this year there would be a lot of important dates in the history of Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces. In 2014, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our accession to NATO, the 10th one of our membership in the European Union and the 25th anniversary of tearing down the Iron Curtain. The Institute and Museum of Military History has excellently prepared itself for deservedly celebrating the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

In his tasking speech, Csaba Hende stressed that the military units, organizations, MoD departments and directorates have been working towards the same goal: defence of the homeland. It would be unacceptable if the completion of some task were delayed due to some unnecessary rivalry. “I will replace all such cogwheels”, the Minister stated, adding that a single cogwheel is meaningless in itself, it makes sense only if it can work together with the others by moving them.

Held in building No. 2 of the Ministry of Defence, the annual tasking conference was attended, among others, by all State Secretaries of the Ministry of Defence, Chief of Defence Gen. Tibor Benkő and Deputy Chief of Defence Lt.-Gen. Zoltán Orosz; László Domokos, President, State Audit Office; Réka Szemerkényi, Chief Advisor in Foreign and Security Policy to the Prime Minister, György Bakondi, Head of the National Directorate for Disaster Management; János Czövek, President, Military Trade Union; Gábor Boldizsár, Dean, Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training, National University of Public Service.

(Ministry of Defence)