Defense Minister: NATO is us and that's why we are building a strong army

In the latest episode of The Bold Truth About Hungary podcast, host Zoltán Kovács, state secretary for international communication and relations, spoke with Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky about modernizing the army and building up a military industry. He also made some remarks about the Ukraine war and the lessons learned from it which will be discussed in a separate article.

"NATO is us, really," the defense minister said. "So that is one of the reasons why we are building a strong national army because that can be the only contribution. And if other nations do so, as they do, they all build strong national armies, then together we can count on each other. And this is why both NATO and the national defense force are so important. So, on that framework, we bought the heavy iron and are composing a heavy brigade of that. And that carries on as the items come in, and then the communication between those items and the whole organization in a working military environment of it is rolling on. But at the same time, we are entering a new phase of development, much of it comes from the conclusions of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Because we, of course, as all nations analyze it very closely what's going on from a military standpoint, and the use of drones, for instance, reconnaissance drones and fighting drones is a great lesson for everyone. So, we are now opening a new phase in our development program, which is taking on board the newest technology and then combining everything together in a strong national army," the defense minister said.