The new head of the Hungarian Ministry of Defense has made an unprecedentedly tough statement, publicly announcing a change in political course and a firm response to the brazen actions of Russian intelligence.
Minister of Defense of Hungary Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi / © screenshot from video
The new Hungarian Minister of Defense, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, has officially stated that the country aims to restore the trust of its Western allies and is completely “closing the door” on the Russians.
He said this on Tuesday, July 14, during the Budapest Energy and Strategic Dialogue, organized by the Equilibrium Institute think tank, as reported by the Hungarian publication Telex.
Restoring Trust and the Russian Trace
According to the head of the defense department, to develop a new strategy, the government must consider the interests and values of both the nation itself and its partners. That is why one of the first steps of the new government was to issue official apologies to allies, particularly the Finns, whose NATO accession was artificially delayed by the previous government. As a military man, Ruszin-Szendi called the previous administration’s approach completely unacceptable.
The minister also noted the increased activity of the Russian Federation’s special services on its territory. He emphasized that Budapest is closely monitoring not only the Russian-Ukrainian war but also the conflict in the Middle East.
“We are closing the door on the Russians, as Russian intelligence tried to get in through the back door,” Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi sharply emphasized.
Defense Spending and Modernization
Speaking about commitments to NATO, the minister assured that Hungary would definitely meet the requirement to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035. However, the country currently has other pressing priorities due to the complex economic situation it inherited from its predecessors. At this stage, the government has decided to give absolute priority to funding education and healthcare.
Despite this, the technological modernization of the armed forces, which began back in 2017, is still actively ongoing. The main goal of these processes is the complete restoration of Hungary’s defense capabilities, which have been neglected for the last 35 years.
To achieve this goal, the government plans to conclude new development agreements with several European players in the defense industry. Budapest is actively encouraging foreign companies to locate their production facilities directly in Hungarian territory.
Recall that the Hungarian prime minister decided to open KGB archives. Hungary plans to publish dossiers of informants from the communist era.
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