Orbán: it is time to revive the military spirit within us

Hungarians need a competent military that can guarantee peace and serve as a deterrent, “because those who won’t have strength won’t have truth, either”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Budapest on Saturday.

Addressing an oath-taking ceremony of volunteer soldiers and the inauguration of Lynx armoured infantry fighting vehicles, Orbán said it was time to “revive the military spirit within us”, arguing that a nation incapable of doing so “will certainly fail in the future”. “There are nations that have already begun making preparations and we can’t fall behind in this, either,” the prime minister said. “We can’t bury our head in the sand like an ostrich,” Orbán said, adding that “if things keep going as they are, the sanctions will shake Europe”. He said it also appeared that Europe would have to prepare itself for a protracted war.

Though the swearing in of 250 volunteer troops “is reason enough to be happy, we need a few more battalions like this”, Orbán said. He added, at the same time, that the inauguration of the Lynx combat vehicles marked an important milestone of Hungary’s ongoing military upgrade. The Hungarian nation was known for centuries for its military virtues, Orbán said, adding that Hungarians were at their best when “there is an obstacle to overcome”.

“We are now living in a time when we have good reason to discover threats at the country’s borders,” he said, noting the war in Ukraine and the flow of weapons from the West to the frontlines. Also,

Hungary’s borders are under siege by groups of armed illegal migrants, he added.

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Orbán noted that the primary task in the past had been to reorganise the Hungarian state. The economy has now made up lost ground, the crime rate has been pushed down, public safety has been restored and public administration renewed, but there is still more to be done when it comes to the Hungarian military, he said.