We are publishing an article by friends active in Hungarian cities who, among other things, have decided to actively support a fundraising for deserters and war refugees. In this text, they describe disturbing militaristic tendencies in the local context, but at the same time place them in an internationalist framework.

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A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of militarism. All the powers of modern Europe have entered into a holy alliance under the spell of this spectre: the NATO and the EU, Putin and Orbán, Brusselian bureaucrats and the German Rheinmetall.

Where is the government that does not support increasing military spending on what it calls defence? Where is the opposition that does not stand with the advocates of militarism, whether they call themselves right-wing or liberal?

Two things result from this fact:

Militarism is already acknowledged by all European powers to be itself a threat. It is high time that anti-militarists took a firm stand and said no to the ideology and machinery of militarism, to pull the veil down on the militarist ambitions of governments, international organisations and military complexes, and to confront the madness of war and armament with social revolution and revolutionary defeatism.

In recent years, our world has once again been overshadowed by the shadow of war. To mention just two current and well-known examples:

In the war in Ukraine, since February 2022, the number of casualties on both sides is estimated at hundreds of thousands, and the number of wounded could reach one million. The number of refugees displaced from Ukraine is around 7 million.

Meanwhile, the war and genocide in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, 80% of them civilians and a third of them children, until the beginning of April. The murder of journalists and humanitarian personnel by Israeli forces is now on an unprecedented scale.

These armed conflicts have given a huge boost to military research and development, military-industrial production and the testing of newly invented technologies in the field. Drones and robots, chemical weapons and the nightmare of nuclear war are looming on the fronts.

Moreover, there is no clear sign that any of these conflicts will end within a short time.

The multiple effects of these – even though Hungary is not at war with anyone – are increasingly being felt by us: rising defence spending and demagogic propaganda on the one hand, rising inflation and deficits on the other. The Hungarian government welcomes with open arms and embraces war aggressors such as Putin and Netanyahu, a war criminal convicted by the International Criminal Court, while it preaches endlessly about peace and patriotism, organises “peace marches” and launches overpriced “national consultations”. Orbán’s crocodile tears are shed in a blood sea for which his own main allies are the main responsibles.

But it would be a mistake to think that all that is happening in our country today is merely the result of these war conflicts, that Hungary is forced to do what it does only by external circumstances. In fact, the process of militarisation had already begun earlier, although the recent events have provided the government with sufficient reason and pretext to continue maintaining the rule by decree and further fatten the machinery of militarism.

Over the past 10 years, defence spending by NATO member states has more than six-fold, reaching a record level. During this period, Hungary has achieved the second most dynamic growth among EU Member States, increasing its defence spending as a share of GDP from 0.6% in 2014 to above the 2% NATO demand by 2023. Since then, Hungary has consistently exceeded the mandatory quota, while a quarter of NATO member states spend less than this. Just to give you an idea of what our taxes, among others, are being spent on: under the adopted budget, the Ministry of Defence will receive more than 4,8 billion euros from the state coffers this year.

But for the war hyenas, nothing is enough: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that all member states should increase their contribution to defence spending as a share of GDP to over 3%, and Trump has even talked about 5% as a goal to be achieved… What this means for us, we all know: cuts in public social spending, tax raises, an increase in the national debt. All this at a time when we are witnessing an unprecedented rise in the cost of living!

And what exactly is all that money for? Already immediately after Fidesz came to power in 2010, more military weapons were ordered than in the entire decade before. Then, in 2017, a ten-year comprehensive military development programme was announced, which resulted in the state going into turbo mode from 2018, purchasing or ordering a wide range of firearms, air and ground military vehicles. In 2020 alone, surpassing all previous records, more than 400 foreign military orders were placed, mostly for German Lynx infantry fighting vehicles and US medium-range missiles for Gripen.

In addition to foreign purchases, there is also a boom in domestic military investment, partly by Hungarian companies and partly by Europe’s largest arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, which has been and is still being implemented in at least all three counties of the country: Zalaegerszeg, Kiskunfélegyháza, Gyula, Kaposvár, Várpalota, Nyírtelek, etc.

The Minister of Defence also identified the reinforcement of the NATO headquarters in Székesfehérvár as a priority, and NATO troop movements and training exercises are ongoing at the country’s bases.

The size of the army, which was around 30,000 in the 2010s, has been significantly increased in the new decade, and the recruitment campaign and promotion of the military has been going on at full speed: through internet advertisements and posters in public squares, parades at various ceremonies and open days, or on college and university campuses. Candidates are promised good pay, benefits and discounts, presenting soldiering and warfare as a cool and manly activity, full of fun and laughter, and of course, only for the good of the country and the nation. How false this is illustrated by the accident in March, when both hands were blown off a government official who, under pressure from above, was forced to take part in a live hand grenade throwing exercise with many of her colleagues.

And if all this were not enough, militarism is increasingly infiltrating the education system. The introduction of five hours of physical education a week was once seen by many as a bad omen. Since then, there has been a basic knowledge subject on national defence, which can be taken at graduation level. It was not long ago that soldiers over 55 were allowed to be retrained as school teachers, exacerbating the crisis in public education and reinforcing the militaristic spirit in the schools. And to complete the militarist brainwashing, children are being sent to military defence camps, which, thanks to massive state subsidies, are currently one of the cheapest forms of camping in the country.

Meanwhile, the militarisation of political communication is going on unmasked: just look at Orbán’s rhetoric, which is soiled by a plethora of warlike expressions. The war-mongering creates an atmosphere of general fear, which has already played a role in their previous electoral victories, and is also an effective weapon to smear and destroy their political opponents. Because if the government is anti-war, those who criticise its policies can only be pro-war.

In addition to its immediate benefits, such word magic also serves long-term strategic purposes: it imperceptibly accustoms society to war, normalising the culture of war and creating an Orwellian newspeak where the formula of ‘war is peace’ becomes increasingly commonplace and accepted.

Enough of the hypocritical charade and intrigue of the supporters of militarism!

Enough of militarist propaganda, the militarisation of public discourse and education!

Enough of increased military spending, new military industrial investments and arms purchases!

And finally, enough of false dilemmas: Russia or NATO, Putin or Zelensky… We must recognise that our enemies are not on the other side of the front lines created by the elites. On the contrary! It is precisely these economic, political and military elites who are the real enemy for us: military alliances and warring governments, arms manufacturers and military contractors, ministers of defence and their generals – the fomenters of militarism, the real horsemen of the apocalypse. To live in peace and real security, we must get rid of them!

In short, the anti-militarists everywhere support every revolutionary movements against the existing social and political order of things. We also support conscientious objectors and deserters who leave the front, workers and students who protest and strike against the war, saboteurs of military operations and military-industrial production, journalists and hackers who expose or leak war crimes and other abominations.

Not a single person, not a single cent for the machine of militarism!

Peace to the huts, war to the palaces! No war but class war!

Anti-militarists of All Countries, Unite!