Hungary, “170 pro-Nato officers expelled”. Former undersecretary Vadai: “Orban wants loyalty from the military”

At least 170 pro-NATO Hungarian officers and generals “hunted” by the armed forces. This is the complaint of Ágnes Vadai, former Undersecretary of Defense of Budapest and exponent of the opposition party Dk, relaunched by the Hungarian media in the last few hours. The former undersecretary’s words come as several local media report that Hungary’s defense ministry has begun firing hundreds of high-ranking military officers, including generals and colonels, following a new government decree that would allow the defense minister to suspend unilaterally those who have turned 45 and have at least 25 years of effective service, as reported by the information portals Telex.hu and Daily News Hungary. After the publication of the new legislation, “news quickly reached our newspaper that the Minister of National Defence, exercising the right granted by the decree, initiated a major purge” among the officers, mass firing members of the defense staff, writes Telex. “I have learned that 170 generals and officers” have already been relieved of their duties, Vadai declared in an interview with the ATV channel, adding that he does not yet know what numbers it will arrive at, but “I have heard of the order of thousands” . According to the former undersecretary, “this means that the Hungarian Armed Forces are currently on leave from NATO”, since “the 45-year-old officers and generals are soldiers with international experience, who speak languages ​​and have socialized within the Alliance “. Vadai also argued that the aim of the measures would be to ensure that political loyalty to Viktor Orban’s government is henceforth the guiding principle of the Hungarian armed forces.