Hungarian Defence Minister in 2023 Urged Path to War, Opposition Leaks Controversial Recording

In 2023, Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky called to “end the mentality of peace and move to phase zero on the path to war.”

The main opposition figure to Orbán’s government, Péter Madár, leader of the Tisza party, released the audio recording of this statement on his Facebook page.

This statement sharply contrasts with the position of the pro-Russian government, which criticizes not only Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression but also Hungary’s NATO allies.

Péter Madár, leader of the Tisza party, today published an audio recording in which, according to the subtitles, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky is speaking.

“They lied to the Hungarians about peace, but it turned out that they would drag our wonderful country into war. In this recording, Viktor Orbán’s Defence Minister admits and even proudly declares that what they have been preaching for years is nothing but a blatant lie. Last year’s scandal involving the pardon of pedophiles clearly showed that the Orbáns only protect children and families in words, and that they are the ones who support pedophile monsters. Now it has become clear that although Orbán’s government has talked for years about protecting the Hungarian people, they are the ones willing to sacrifice the safety of their own citizens for money and power. This is not a political mistake. This is a crime. A crime for which there is, and will never be, forgiveness,” Péter Madár commented on the recording.

In the audio recording, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky claims that the so-called “rejuvenation” policy, which was conducted under the guise of renewing the army’s leadership, is actually nothing more than placing military personnel who are more loyal to Orbán’s regime.

This became particularly apparent when Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, the youngest chief of the General Staff in the history of the Hungarian Defence Forces, was replaced by Gábor Böröndi, who was two years his senior.

“It was only natural that the process, which we publicly referred to as rejuvenation, was in fact the simplest way to break with the mentality of peace,” said the Hungarian Defence Minister in the audio recording.

The unprecedented military spending by Orbán’s government in recent years further underscores the developments discussed in 2023.

For instance, the country is now purchasing new German-made armored vehicles, including Leopard 2A7HU tanks, Lynx infantry fighting vehicles, PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, Turkish armored vehicles, and Norwegian-American NASAMS air defense systems, among others.

This is also reflected in foreign policy, as exemplified by the well-known statements against Ukraine and the recent agreement on strategic partnership with Serbia, to which Hungary previously supplied spare parts for decommissioned MiG-29 aircraft and BTR-80A armored personnel carriers.