With the recent large-scale build-up of the national defence industry, Hungary is not only ensuring its own military equipment supply, but also contributing to the development of European defence industrial capabilities and thus enhancing the EU’s security.

Hungary believes that the problems should be solved not at Europe’s borders but at their places of origin, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said. He emphasised that under the changed circumstances, the development of the Hungarian armed forces is progressing dynamically, confidently, and systematically.

A new, temporary exhibition of military history is set to open in August in St Stephen Museum and Monastery in Székesfehérvár. This is all part of the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the formation of the modern Hungarian Defence Forces this year.

The Hungarian military was commemorating the National Defence Day with a whole slew of fun activities for families which included climbing inside and on top of tanks, an obstacle course, and meeting with the Olympic medalist athletes of the Sports Battalion.

‘As a volunteer reserve captain, I have seen the internal state of the armed forces from the bottom up, and as a minister, from the top down. From both perspectives, it is clear that a profound organisational culture change is needed,’ Defence Minister Szalay-Bobrovniczky noted in a recent interview.

‘The Hungarian people help both domestically and abroad, as we saw during the coronavirus pandemic, in the case of refugees from Ukraine, and now in Turkey,’ Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.