Hungarian government sold 66 APCs to Serbia instead of 26, as it claimed, opposition MP says

Rather than 26, the Hungarian Ministry of Defense (HM) sold 66 armored personnel carriers to Serbia in early 2024 for a total of €935,000, writes Ákos Hadházy. The independent MP submitted a public interest data request after he found that conflicting reports about the transaction had appeared in the Hungarian and Serbian press. He ultimately had to go to court to obtain the data, which the ministry has only now released to him.

In early January last year, the Hungarian government announced that it had sold 26 old Soviet BTR-80A armored personnel carriers to the Serbian army. The Hungarian Armed Forces had received 555 BTR-80s between 1996 and 1999 as part of a settlement of joint state debts with Russia. Some of these were refurbished between 2006 and 2010, but the majority have by now become unfit for use. According to a statement issued by the ministry at the time, although the vehicles sold to Serbia were equipped with night vision equipment and advanced communication systems, they did not meet Hungary's long-term defense needs.

In his recent Facebook post, Ákos Hadházy wrote that he became suspicious when, at the same time as the Hungarian government's announcement, reports appeared in the Serbian press that the Serbian army had received 66 tanks in excellent condition as a gift from Hungary.

He therefore filed a public interest data request. The ministry initially refused to respond, claiming that it had no knowledge of the matter because it was not the ministry that had handed over the vehicles, but one of its companies. The court, however, dismissed this argument and ordered the Ministry of Defense to comply with the request.

The information finally released by the ministry revealed that Hungary had indeed given Serbia 66 BTR-80 and BTR 80/A APCs in varying technical condition, most of which were equipped, but which were deemed "unnecessary for national defense purposes." However, they were not given away for free, but for a total of €935,000.

Hadházy wrote that although he had not yet compared this amount with market prices, according to the documents he had found, "we should have asked for at least fifteen times this amount". According to the MP: "with a slight exaggeration, we sold the machines at the price of scrap metal – for about one euro per kilo.

If these figures are confirmed by the latest data, I will, of course, file a complaint for misappropriation of funds."

Plans are in place for the Lynx infantry combat vehicle, developed by Germany's Rheinmetall, to replace the aging BTRs in the Hungarian Armed Forces. In August 2020, the Hungarian government signed a contract with Rheinmetall for the production of Lynx combat vehicles in Zalaegerszeg. Direkt36 previously wrote in detail about plans for developing the Hungarian Armed Forces.