Hungary to produce military drones in partnership with Israel and Germany

Zalaegerszeg has become a place from which the future can be seen clearly, at least when it comes to the automotive industry, military technology and electronics, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday at the opening ceremony of the Hungarian joint venture company of the German Rheinmetall in Zalaegerszeg. Orbán travelled to the ceremony after his interview with Kossuth Rádió on Friday morning.

He also said that

“an agreement has just been signed here, which also includes the Israeli company Uvision. We are setting up a joint venture in Hungary to produce combat drones. Tastes may differ, but if I heard that a country was producing and developing military technology in cooperation with the Germans and Israelis, I would think twice about messing with it, and that is good news for all Hungarians”, the Prime Minister said.

It doesn't end there either: one of Europe's most modern factories producing military equipment and instruments will be opened in Várpalota next year, also in partnership with Rheinmetall. It was just a year ago that the Airbus factory, manufacturing combat helicopter parts was opened in Gyula.

"And we are not content with inviting foreign partners to Hungary, but we are also exploring opportunities abroad ourselves. We went as far as the Czech Republic, and the company Aero Vodochody, which manufactures combat and training aircraft, is now in Hungarian hands, so we have a Hungarian-owned aircraft factory," Orbán explained. At the beginning of the press conference, Orbán mentioned that talks about developing the Hungarian armed forces and some of the joint investments with Rheinmetall had begun long before the war in Ukraine started.

The Prime Minister argued that smaller countries, like Hungary, had to be fast and nimble, and could not afford the convenience of being slow, as was the case with Germany or the big nations.

"We Hungarians know how to preserve peace in times of war. And it's not like we are only now having to learn what being a soldier means. The virtues of the Hungarian military go back to ancient times, and our German friends know this well (...)

There are those who believe that the key to peace is not strength but weakness. Hardly anyone here in Hungary is buying into that nonsense," he said, repeating what he said on Kossuth Rádió this morning, namely that peace requires mental, economic and military strength.

The latter is needed so that everyone can see that we are able to safeguard Hungary's peace and security even in times of war, and that it's better to be at peace with us.