In times of war, the security of the country and of the Hungarian people comes before anything else, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in a video posted on Facebook on Saturday. To this end, the 2024 budget was also designed in times of war and for wartime, Hungary’s defence minister added. As defence minister, his priority is always the country’s security, but it is different to say and guarantee this in peacetime and in wartime, the minister said, noting that we are living in times of war now.
As defence minister, he said, he had been tasked with ensuring the security of the Hungarian people, stepping up the country’s defence capabilities and strengthening the Hungarian armed forces. The government is providing all financial support to achieve these goals,
he emphasized.
Hungary’s defence fund is being reinforced, he said, noting that 842 billion forints had been earmarked for the fund in this year’s budget and 1310 billion forints would be allocated for the fund next year. This will ensure that our defence capabilities continue to increase and our armed forces continue to develop, that new weapons systems are arriving in Hungary and are being put into operation, and related training tasks are carried out, he listed, going on to say that this will also make sure that Hungary’s armed forces continuously stay at the level of readiness and engage in military exercises in order to guarantee the security of Hungarian people. Hungary’s defence spending in 2024 is set to exceed Hungary’s NATO commitment of two per cent, he noted.
