Let’s celebrate Deserters, not War and Veterans Day !

/ Magyar /

As part of the international response to the anti-militarist appeal announced on the occasion of „Veterans Day”, from the so called hungary we express our solidarity with deserters, army refusers and war resisters all over the world.

As the attached photo shows, we chose the Heroes’ Square in Budapest as the location for our symbolic protest, where the national pantheon built for the millennium of the „Hungarian conquest” stands, with central statues depicting the leaders of the „conquering” Hungarian tribes. Later, statues of kings were placed in a semicircle behind the central monument, and a memorial stone was erected in front of it to honor those who fell in World War I. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, of which Hungary was a part at the time, mobilized around 9 million soldiers during the four years of the Great War, representing the cream of the adult male population. Of these, 1.1 million died, 3.6 million were wounded, and more than 2 million were taken prisoner. Specifically, from Hungary and Croatia, which formed a state union with it, 3.4 million soldiers were conscripted, of whom 530,000 were killed, 1.4 million were wounded, and 833,000 were taken prisoner. However, these soldiers were not heroes, but victims: not only of war, but of a state and a production system that sent millions of innocent people to their deaths around the world. Therefore, it is nothing more than cynical hypocrisy that those who played a role in their destruction and/or paved the way for another tragedy two decades later, claiming 350,000 more soldiers and more than half a million civilians from Hungary and some 60 million people worldwide in a six-year bloodbath, were the ones who placed halos above their heads and tried to create a cult of heroism around them. In Hungary, the senseless destruction of World War I was brought to an end by the Aster Revolution, which took place with the active participation of soldiers (often deserters and fugitives) returning to the homeland. During this revolution, these (former) soldiers tore the symbol of the ruling dynasty from their caps and replaced it with a flower, specifically an aster, as a sign of their desire for peace. The real heroes were not the soldiers who obediently carried out the orders and senselessly shed their blood in lands far from home, but those who refused to obey orders and turned against the senselessness of war. The appeal of the Czech anti-militarist organization Dezertér is therefore not alien to our most beautiful historical traditions, a tradition we proudly embrace: Better a daisy in the helmet than poppies on the graves!

A few snapshots of the militarization in Hungary over the past two months:

September 1, 2025. The month-and-a-half-long Adaptive Hussars 2025 (ADHU 25) „large-scale national defense exercise” began, which was „the largest, most important, and most complex operation of the Hungarian Armed Forces since the regime change” in 1989. In the exercise, which took place within the framework of NATO and was intended to „re-examine” the military development that began in 2015-16 and „assess the Hungarian armed forces’ response, command, and cooperation capabilities by simulating real, complex situations,” all branches of the Hungarian Armed Forces and a total of 22,000 soldiers (professional, contract and reserve) took part.

October 6, 2025. The international press reported that the German company Rheinmetall intends to expand its factory in Zalaegerszeg with a research and development center, for which the Hungarian state plans to provide 560 million forints in public support. At the same time, it was revealed that the Hungarian technology company 4iG is purchasing a 49% shareholding in Rheinmetall Hungary Kft., which is a clear indication of the extent to which the NER (National Collaboration System) bourgeoisie is profiting from domestic militarization.

October 23, 2025. At the customary commemoration ceremony held on the anniversary of the October 1956 revolution, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán barely mentioned the historical event that was the occasion for the gathering, Instead, posing as a fierce „peace fighter,” he frightened the audience with the horrors of the war in Ukraine, repeating several times that „the government is on the side of peace.” The event was framed by the ruling party’s customary mobilization march, the so-called „peace march,” one of whose giant banners bore the slogan „We don’t want to die for Ukraine.” However, the credibility of the „peace march,” along with the prime minister’s speech, was called into question more than anything else by the Gripen fighter bombers flying through the sky. At the same time, in his speech at a commemoration ceremony in Subotica, Vojvodina, the defense minister parroted the ruling party’s propaganda, saying: „We must stand firm, especially when we are under intense pressure to give up our fundamental interests and values, and allow our country to be flooded with illegal migrants, or to force our country and the whole of Europe into a war that is not our war.”

October 28, 2025. The Third International Pro-Israel Summit was held in Budapest with the support of the pro-government Center for Fundamental Rights. The Hungarian Minister of Defense also spoke at the summit, deliberately conflating criticism of the Israeli regime guilty of genocide with anti-Semitism and support for terrorism, while at the same time assuring his full support for the State of Israel and rejecting Hungary’s participation in the international economic boycott against it. As he put it: „We are connected by history, faith, and an alliance that time cannot break. Our bilateral relations are at an all-time high, and support for Israel and the Jewish people is key to the success of a sovereign Hungary. Hungary stands with Israel, just as Israel stands with Hungary, on the side of peace, justice, and sovereign nations.”

November 4–7, 2025. With the participation of approximately 40 people from 17 countries, the NATO Joint Doctrine Development Course was held in Budapest, which is the only NATO training program that trains those who are responsible for developing the doctrines of the military alliance system. As the commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces Transformation Command stated regarding the purpose of the course: “Recently, the types of military conflicts have expanded and their characteristics have changed significantly. In order to adapt effectively to changes in the operational environment, research and development, innovation, doctrine development, and the modernization of training and education systems are also necessary.”

November 5, 2025 A „Defense Experience Center” opened in Győr, in the ETO Park shopping center, where, in the words of the state secretary responsible for force development and defense policy, „an escape room, drone track, airsoft shooting range, VR glasses, and other programs help visitors experience the work of soldiers through experiences, thereby fostering a love for the Hungarian Armed Forces.” The Hungarian Armed Forces has also set up a recruitment office next to the center. According to reports, following this „first swallow,” similar developments are expected soon in other rural cities, such as Békéscsaba and Nyíregyháza, which are clearly intended to appeal primarily to naive young people and, building on the “being a soldier is cool” trope, to encourage more people to voluntarily join the Armed Forces.

November 7, 2025 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with US President Donald Trump in Washington and discussed, among other things, arms purchases, agreeing on several items, including the purchase of high-value American HIMARS missile defense systems, which may take place over a 3-5 year procurement period following authorization by the US Congress.

Hungary ranks 55th in the Global Firepower Index international ranking for 2025. According to this index, the military air force currently operates 69 aircraft, of which 12 are combat aircraft, 8 are attack and 44 are normal helicopters, and the remainder are transport and training vehicles. As for the ground forces, it has approximately 7,800 vehicles, 209 tanks, 295 towed and 24 self-propelled artillery weapons. The total military personnel is estimated at 76,600, of which 41,600 are active personnel and around 20,000 are reservists. This number has been steadily increasing in recent years, mainly due to the influx of territorial defense volunteers: while according to official data, 2,600 joined the army in 2023 (including 300 on regular contracts), by October 2025 the number of volunteers had already exceeded 5,000.

The recruitment campaign is increasingly targeting the youngest generation. As part of this campaign, in the 2024-25 academic year alone, 125 military instructors taught nearly 15,000 students the basics of national defense at 140 secondary schools across the country. In addition, the armed forces are regularly present on university and college campuses, organizing open days and participating in further education fairs. And although the armed forces’ personnel numbers are visibly growing as part of the recruitment campaign, according to opinion polls, only 32% of young people surveyed in Hungary would support the reinstatement of compulsory military service – an option for which neighboring Croatia set a precedent just a month ago.

All these efforts require significant financial backing, which the Hungarian government is trying to secure to an increasing extent each year, allocating 1,939 billion forints (more than 5 billion euros) in the state budget for 2025 to the Ministry of Defense, which, in line with previous Hungarian trends, exceeds the minimum GDP ratio set by NATO. Furthermore, at the NATO summit of 25 June 2025 in The Hague, the representative of the Hungarian government expressed his agreement with the need to further increase the „defense budget,” proposed by Secretary General Mark Rutte.