Another swearing-in ceremony for Crown Guards took place on September 20 in the cupola hall of the Parliament building. In the presence of László Kövér, the Speaker of the Parliament and the member of the Holy Crown Committee, Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende and Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, the Chief of the MoD Defence Staff, the crown guards took their oath of allegiance, pledging that “I shall be guarding the Holy Crown with utmost loyalty…and I will never let it fall into unauthorized hands, even if I have to sacrifice my life for it”.

The swearing-in ceremony of another two rotations of the ‘Honvéd’ Crown Guard took place almost three months after the ceremony in which the Hungarian nation entrusted the Hungarian Defence Forces again with protecting and guarding the symbols of the continuity of our statehood, i.e. the coronation regalia in the Parliament building.

“This time 26 crown guard candidates are about to take their oath”, said Crown Guard Col. Barnabás Ádám, the Captain of the ‘Honvéd’ Crown Guard right before the ceremonial moments in Tuesday afternoon. “They are all fully prepared for doing their service inside the Parliament building, have exemplary motivation and excellent team spirit. They represent several branches of the armed forces within the group of crown guards. I must say they are good soldiers! We should be thankful to their commanders who, although with a heavy heart, allowed them to serve with this detachment.”

Following the ceremonial moments, the “reciter” of the Crown Guard oath, First Lieutenant Tamás Mátés handed the text of the oath signed by his comrades to Defence Minister Csaba Hende.

(Ministry of Defence, Zrínyi Média)