We have Reinforced the Police

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Family Members and Relatives,

One of the most important days in everyone's life is when they can finally begin the service that they have set out as their objective to perform, and when they can finally feel that they have proven worthy of the vocation they have chosen for themselves. We are gathered here today because 1395 young Hungarians have proven worthy of beginning their careers in the police force as junior police officers. I know that 1098 of you will be assigned to the police force itself, 121 of you to the Intervention Police Force, and 176 of you will swell the ranks of the Directorate General for Disaster Management. But ultimately, the task of all of you will be to assure order and security, and so we can perhaps state that all of you have chosen the vocation of law enforcement. It is always an uplifting feeling for me to salute young people, especially on the occasion of their starting out on their careers, who have chosen one of the country's uniformed services as their calling in life. Never forget: the uniform provides strength and bearing, and the members of the uniformed services always act with outstanding responsibility; this uniform cannot be worn by just anyone.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nobody grows a beard on the spur of the moment, and it is obvious that nobody becomes a police officer from one moment to the next. It is perhaps possible to apply to join the force on the basis of a sudden impulse, but to finish school and complete the training course, to acquire the intellectual and physical capabilities and the required professional knowledge and then successfully pass the examinations requires a long string of prudent and responsible decisions. I congratulate you on having brought and undertaken these serious decisions, fulfilled the requirements and come this far. I congratulate your superiors and teachers, and especially your parents, on having successfully supported you in achieving all this. They have every reason to be very proud of you today. In life, we often experience the fact that we must do much to achieve even fundamental things. This is because in fact nothing is given, nothing in life is free, and we must in fact struggle to achieve everything and work to achieve everything. This includes the primary prerequisite for our security and safety, order, which is not only fundamental to a calculable life, but also to a humanly dignified existence.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In peaceful times we are liable to think that order is like air. While we live our lives it never comes to mind and we never think about the fact that we could in fact not survive without it. Order is something that we only really begin to appreciate when it is endangered, if the framework for our previously calculable life suddenly becomes unpredictable. And at such times we call out for order and protection, and we expect those whose job it is to protect our property, defend our lives and fend off the dangers that are threatening us. And this is when we really come to understand that we must also work to assure our dignity and safety when our lives are otherwise following the usual course and we are living in order and safety. This is when we really come to understand how important and valuable the work performed by the official protectors of order and safety is to our everyday lives, almost unnoticeably, and which they perform in the interests of an ordered life in Hungary.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In 2010, Hungary was not only on the edge of bankruptcy from a financial point of view, but, together with many other things, order and public safety also lay in ruins. But then the people of Hungary decided that they wanted a radical change. They decided that we need not only put the economy in order, but the law and public safety too; the rule of law must also be put in order. In 2010, all ten million of us undertook to achieve this, and I can now report to you that we are now in a much better position than before not only with regard to the economy, but also with relation to order and public safety. Think back on how, over the past four years, we have created a perhaps tough, but just legislative environment to protect good, honest citizens. We have reinforced the Hungarian police force and there are now 3500 more police officers on duty on our streets, as a result of which we can now state that there is a permanent police presence in every settlement in Hungary. We have cleansed the police force of those who sided with crime, and we will continue to do so in future. We have modernised the conditions for the performance of police work. But you also know full well that legislation that is on the side of the people and more modern equipment could not in themselves have achieved a suitable level of improvement without the addition of an efficient and well-trained police organisation, of which you too will now become a part. The performance capabilities of this efficient organisation came to the fore, its solidarity and efficiency were primarily proven, when the members of the law enforcement agencies worked side-by-side with the country's citizens to save Hungary from the most serious flood of the past century. Thank you! But I would ask that you never forget that the most important thing is for the right people to be assigned to the right positions. The number of staff, modern equipment, legislation, and of course organisational background are all very important. But believe me, all this is worth nothing if our homeland does not have police officers who love their country and work with devotion to protect it. And a prerequisite for this is a higher regard for the police profession, so that people like you who have chosen this vocation see a certain future ahead of them. In this regard, let us be frank, Hungary still has much to do, but you will see that we are moving in this direction step by step.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, you have become worthy of wearing this uniform. I ask that you be proud of the fact that you have chosen this vocation. I ask that you serve as an example and remain beyond reproach, and that you always remain true to your oath! What our country, our shared homeland, will be like in the future depends on you, and in fact depends to a great extent on you. Whether we are able to live in a country in which all honest citizens may feel safe and can live in the knowledge that their loved ones, their belongings and public property are safe also depends on you. And in closing, I ask that you never forget: your country is depending on you.

Thank you for your attention.

(Prime Minister’s Office)