Defense
Hungary has been a member of NATO since 1999. To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that HUN stands for Hungary. The
defense, which is based on general military duty with an
initial service of 6 months, comprises (2008) 32,000 men. It
is organized in an army of 23,000 men with 2 brigades and an
air force of 7,500 men with 28 fighter aircraft, including
14 JAS 39 C/D Gripen and 12 attack helicopters. The
reserves include 44,000 men's army and 8,000 men's air
force. The border protection troops comprise 12,000 men and
will be reduced. The material is semi-modern and of Soviet
origin with an increased element of Western material.
Defense costs fell from 7.2% to 1.2% of GDP in 1985-2006.
A contractual Russian debt was reduced in 1995. through the
delivery of 28 modern fighter aircraft, MiG 29, which has
been reduced to 12. Hungary participates in a number of UN
peacekeeping efforts. Afghanistan (NATO-ISAF), Bosnia and
Herzegovina (EUFOR) and Serbia (KFOR) and with observers/
military police in five countries.
Hungary's defense overview
Hungary has been a member of NATO since 1999. The country
has no military service. The total force figures for
Hungary's armed forces are 27,800 active personnel, with a
reserve of 20,000, and a semi-military border guard with a
force of 12,000 personnel (2018, IISS).
The Army and the Air Force are not branches of their own,
but components of a common force. Hungary has no navy.
The land component has a strength of 10 450 active
personnel. Heavier material includes 44 tanks of a T-72, 120
armored vehicles and 272 armored personnel carriers, as well
as two river patrol boats and four river air my warship.
The air component has a strength of 5750 active
personnel. Material comprising 14 fighter central Saab, six
transport aircraft, four trainers, and 21 helicopters, 11
combat helicopters of the type Mi-24.
Operations abroad
In 2018, Hungary participated in the NATO operations in
Afghanistan (Operation Resolute Support) with 111
personnel, and in Serbia (KFOR) with 388 personnel.
Hungary participated in UN operations in the Central
African Republic (MINUSCA) with two observers, in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
with 11 personnel, in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with 10 personnel,
and in Western Sahara (MINURSO) with two observers.
In addition, Hungary participated in the EU-led operation
in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Operation Althea) with 164
personnel.
In January 2012, the EU declared to the Commission that it
would appeal to Hungary before the European Court of
Justice. In November, the court issued a ruling saying that
Hungary was in violation of EU rules as it had lowered the
retirement age for judges and prosecutors. The government
would use the amendment to remove 300 "troublesome" judges.
Also in January, the government raised the VAT rate from
25 to 27%, as part of a series of crisis measures aimed at
reducing the state budget deficit. Still, the rating agency
Fitch downgrades the nation's government bonds to junk
status. Tens of thousands are demonstrating in the streets
of Budapest against the new constitution, which comes into
force in January. In February, the country's state-owned
carrier Malev goes bankrupt. In March, the EU will suspend
aid to Hungary due to its deficit in the state budget. In
September, Prime Minister Orban rejected the conditions
attached to a $ 15 billion € IMF loan.
The persecution of Roma continued in 2012. On August 5,
fascist Jobbik conducted a march in the Roma village of
Devecser. The fascists threw stones and concrete pieces
against the houses in the village. Police failed to
intervene. On August 18, militant black shirts conducted a
march in Roma parts of the village of Cegléd. They patrol in
smaller groups, shouting passwords against the Roma and
threats to life. Police advised the Roma to stay in their
houses and not go out for the 2 days the fascist thugs
housed in the village. On October 17, several thousands of
Jobbik supporters conducted a march in Roma parts of the
village of Miskolc, shouting slogans against the Roma.
Several hundred Roma conducted a peaceful
counter-demonstration.
Marton Gyongyosi, who is a parliamentarian for Jobbik, is
causing scandal as he calls for the compilation of a list of
all Jewish officials, as they "pose a national security
risk".
In January 2013, the Constitutional Court overturned an
addition to the Electoral Law Parliament had passed in
November, which further altered the electoral system to
Fidesz's favor. Two months later, Parliament adopts an
addition to the Constitution that restricts the powers of
the Constitutional Court. Critics say the government is
continuing its project of undermining democracy.
President Áder officially apologized to the Serbian
Parliament in June 2013 for the crimes committed by
Hungarian Nazis against Serbian civilians in Vojvodina in
1944-45. Serbian parliamentarians had a few days before
passed a resolution condemning the massacre in Vojvodina.
Also in June, the government presented its 5th addition
to the Constitution. The addition banned "political
advertising in independent media" and restricted the
recognition of religious groups. In the same month, the
European Parliament set up a commission to examine the
Hungarian constitutional amendments. The Commission issued a
report the month after which it was recommended to bring the
Constitution into line with the European Constitution, the
rulings of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, the
recommendations of the Venice Commission and the Council of
Europe. Parliament agreed to support the report at the same
time, but the report was ignored by the Hungarian government
and the European Parliament did not proceed.
A Budapest court in August found 4 members of Jobbik
guilty of Roma murder in 2008-09. Three of those convicted
were given life sentences in what was Hungary's first
racially oriented serial murder case.
Viktor Orban's right-wing Fidesz party fell 8.2% to 44.5%
in the April 2014 parliamentary elections. The first
election after the constitutional amendments. Due. However,
the electoral system could sit at 133 out of Parliament's
199 seats and thus a solid majority. The center-right
election alliance Unit (Összefogás) went up 6.3% to 26%, but
had to settle for 38 seats. The neo-Nazi Jobbik party rose
3.9% to 20.5% and gained 23 seats. Hungary thus retained its
status as Europe's supremely right-wing state, and Orbán
could continue in the post of Prime Minister.
In July, at a speech in the Romanian city of Băile
Tușnad, Orbán outlined his vision for the fascist ideal
state, which according to. him followed the liberal state.
As his ideals for this state, he peculiarly mentioned
Russia, China, India and Turkey. Within a few days,
international media, academics and foreign policy experts
criticized Orbán for his statements and urged the EU and
NATO to take action. But nothing happened.
Freedom of expression came under further pressure during
2014. In May, the Constitutional Court issued an order in
which Internet Service Providers (ISP) is responsible for
any blogs or news commentary that may violate the country's
media law. The ISPs must therefore exercise censorship and
may otherwise be closed. In June, the Supreme Court issued a
ruling saying that the government-critical TV station ATV
had the media law restrictions on comment by beginning
Jobbik as "right-wing" in a news broadcast. That same month,
the editor-in-chief of the WEB news site Origo was fired
after publishing a history of misuse of public funds
committed by the prime minister's cabinet chief. In the same
month, the government passed an advertising tax that
particularly affected RTL Club - one of the few remaining
independent TV channels in the country.
In June, the National Audit Office conducted unannounced
visits to 3 NGOs that administered funds from foreign
donors. At the same time, the government published a list of
a further 13 NGOs, including human rights organizations that
were characterized as "leftist" and "problematic". In
September, police conducted a search of two NGOs that
distributed grants and other funds. They got confiscated
computers, documents and servers. The month after, the state
audit released a report of the review of the accounts of 4
NGOs distributing funds and 55 others receiving them,
accusing the NGOs of fraud, fund fraud and other
irregularities. In February 2015, Amnesty International
published a report on the witch-hunting by the Hungarian
authorities against NGOs.
In September, the European Court of Human Rights upheld
its order in April when it recognized Hungary for violating
freedom of religion and assembly when in 2010 it deprived a
number of religious groups of their status as churches.
The country's Roma continued to face discrimination and
violent attacks. In May 2015, a Roma house in northeastern
Hungary was attacked with two petrol bombs. 450 Roma
families were put on the streets by the authorities in the
city of Miskolc in July as part of the authorities' hunt for
Roma.
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