Title: The Half-Hearted Transformation of the Hungarian Military
Abstract: Abstract The paper analyses the few successes and many failures of the defence reform of Hungary since the system change of 1990. It concludes that the failures have been due to objective reasons. Namely, due to the multiple changes that had to be carried out in politics, economy and the society the defence sector has been losing out in a largely threat-free environment. The shortage of human and financial resources is aggravated by the subjective mistakes, including waste and corruption. The difficulties Hungary has been facing—similarly to most countries in East–Central Europe—point to a pertinent question: why have defence reforms failed in most cases in the new democracies generally? Notes 1. The two countries that represent the higher intra-EU export share are the Netherlands and Portugal. Several EU member-states have higher volume of intra-EU trade than Hungary, of course. It is remarkable, however, that after the 1 May 2004 enlargement more than 82% of Hungarian exports will be intra-EU. 2. Hungary used to be second on the list but slipped to third in 2002. Globally, Hungary ranked 31 on the list in 2001, behind Trinidad and Tobago and with Tunisia and only Estonia preceding it from among the transition countries of East-central Europe. In 2002 Hungary slipped to rank 33 together with Malaysia and Trinidad and Tobago, preceded by Slovenia (rank 27) and Estonia (rank 29). In 2003 this trend continued. Hungary ranked number 40 whereas in 2004 number 42. Interestingly its ranking in East–Central Europe did not change. See Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. 3. R. L. Tökés, Hungary's Negotiated Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). 4. There has been a certain ‘soft lustration’ of the political elite in the sense that those who had held certain political functions or had had access to information of the internal counter-intelligence were screened. If they were found to have held certain political functions they had two choices. Either they had to give up their function or their position would have to be made public. This did not prevent the electorate from voting people who had been affected by this rule into the highest offices. 5. Lányi Zsolt felszólalása az Oszággyűlés 1998. december 2-i ülésén /The contribution of Zsolt Lányi at the 2 December 1998 session of the National Assembly/. Available at Http://www.mkogy.hu/internet/plsql/ogy_naplo.naplo.‘fadat?p_ckl = 36p_uln = 38p_fe (accessed on 6 September 2004). 6. In autumn 2003 Lord Robertson publicly named Hungary as a country whose constitutional rules did not allow it to deploy its armed forces on NATO missions. The somewhat unusually specific reference to one NATO member-state prompted a reconsideration of the issue. 7. 2003. evi CIX. törvény a Magyar Köztársaság Alkotmányáról szóló 1949. évi XX. Törvény módosításáról /Act CIX of 2003 on the modification of Act XX of 1949 on the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary/. Available at http://www.complex.hu/kzldat/t0300109.htm/t0300109.htm (accessed on 6 September 2004). 8. For details of this fascinating story see, ‘Civil–military Relations in Hungary: No Big Deal’, in Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds & Anthony Forster (eds), Democratic Control of the Military in Post Communist Europe: Guarding the Guards (Houndmills: Palgrave, 2002), pp. 64–87. 9. The potential threats emanating from the former Soviet Union, in contrast with many other Central and Eastern European countries, have never had any measurable impact upon the threat perception of the Hungarian public. For details see Ferenc Molnár, ‘A közvélemény alakulása a biztonságról és a haderők szerepéről a Cseh Köztársaságban, Lengyelországban és Magyarországon’, Új Honvédségi Szemle, 54: 8 (August 2000), pp. 4–23. 10. In this respect the Horn government was by and large right. The first post-Cold War enlargement of NATO did not pay particular attention to military preparedness. When at a late stage it did, it simply required that the applicant states increased the share of the state budget that they spent on the military. This fiscal approach did not require any actual improvement of military capabilities, however. 11. For more details concerning the reform see ‘Hungary’, in H. J. Giessmann & G. E. Gustenau (eds), Security Handbook 2001 (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag, 2001), pp. 249–82, ‘Hungary: Peace and Quiet of an Increasingly Illiberal Democracy’, in D. N. Nelson & U. Markus (eds), Brassey's Central and Eastern European Security Yearbook (Washington D.C.: Brassey's, 2002), pp. 85–119, ‘Building Professional Competence in Hungary's Defence: Slow Motion’, in A. Forster, T. Edmunds & A. Cottey (eds), The Challenge of Military Reform in Postcommunist Europe (Houndmills: Palgrave, 2002), pp. 63–78. 12. Béla Szilágyi, ‘Csak 2005-ben szerel le az utolsó sorkatona’ /The last conscript soldier will be discharged in 2005 only/, Magyar Hírlap, 13 September 2003. 13. See Gábor Miklós, Alezredesi ámádia /An armada of lieutenant colonels/, Népszabadság, 6 June 2003. 14. See A kormány jóváhagyta a haderöreform terveit /The government approved the military reform plans/, 25 September 2003. Available at http://www.honvedelem.hu/cikkphp?cikk = 14241 (accessed on 6 September 2004); Népszabadság, 31 July 2004, p. 7. 15. Iváncsik Imre honvédelmi államtitkár bevezetö elöadása a Magyar Honvédség hosszú távú fejlesztésének irányairól valamint a Magyar Honvédség részletes bontású létszámáról szóló országgyûlési határozati javaslatok együttes vitájában /Introductory statement of Imre Iváncsik, political state secretary of the MoD, in the joint debate on decision of Parliament on the long term directions of the development of the Hungarian Defence Forces and detailed headcount of the personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces/ 2 March 2004. Available at http://www.mkogy.hu/internet/plsql/ogz_naplo_fadat_aktus?p_ckl = 37&p_uln = 12 (accessed on 6 September 2004). 16. Magyar katonák szerepvállalása a világ békéjének és biztonságának megteremtésében /The role of Hungarian soldiers in creating peace and security in the world/ Last updated on 10 June 2004. Available at http://www.honvedelem.hu/missziok_ index.php (accessed on 20 June 2004). 17. A kormány jóváhagyta a haderöreform terveit /The government approved the military reform plans/, 25 September 2003. Available at http://www.honvedelem.hu/cikkphp?cikk = 14241 (accessed on 20 March 2004). 18. Christopher Condon, ‘Top brass needs to raise its game: Military spending is likely to rise from 1.5 per cent of GDP but critics say money will be wasted’, Financial Times, Special Report: Hungary, 1 June 2004, p. 4. 19. See the public opinion poll data presented in Pál Dunay ‘The Armed Forces in Hungarian Society: Finding a Role?’, in Anthony Forster, Timothy Edmunds & Andrew Cottey (eds), Soldiers and Societies in Postcommunist Europe: Legitimacy and Change (Houndmills: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003), pp. 84–9. 20. The list Hungary presented at the Prague NATO summit in late November 2002 included the improvement of the mobility of the Hungarian Defence Forces, defence against biological and chemical weapons, logistical support to the deployment of the forces of allied powers as well as to guarantee the air refuelling capability of the Gripen aircraft Hungary has purchased. It was not made clear whether Hungary would purchase An-70 transport aircraft or transport capacity will be established in cooperation with other countries. See ‘30 milliárd forintos magyar felajánlás a NATO-nak’ /30 bn forints commitment to NATO/. Available at http://www.korridor.hu/cikk.php?cikk = 100000044877 (accessed on 17 March 2004). 21. See P. Webster, ‘Eight leaders rally ‘new’ Europe to America's side’, The Times, 30 January 2003 and A. Applebaum, ‘Here Comes the New Europe’, The Washington Post, 29 January 2003. 22. Az iraki partoknál a Taszáron kiképzettek egy csoportja /A group of those trained at Taszar are at the shores of Iraq/ 27 March 2003. Available at http://www.honvedelem.hu/Popup_index.php?type = nyomtat = id (accessed on 30 March 2004). 23. As defence minister Juhász said in an interview the day before the coming into office of the new government ‘following NATO accession the country fulfilled 76 per cent of its pledges, 50 per cent a year later and only 26 per cent in 2001’. See Mihály Bak, ‘Nem minden vezető marad a helyén a honvédelmi tárcánál—Négyszemközt Juhász Ferenccel’ /Not every leader keeps its post at the defence portfolio—Eye to eye with Ferenc Juhász/, Magyar Hírlap, 26 May 2002. 24. L. ‘Védelmi Felülvizsgalat : Uton a XXI. szàzad hadserege felé‘. Available at http://www.honvedelem.hu/cikk.php?cikk = 13776(accessed on 18 March 2004).
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 6
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