Under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Defense Council was established in the Carmelite monastery on Tuesday morning – Bertalan Havasi, Deputy State Secretary in charge of the Prime Minister’s Press Office, informed MTI.
Viktor Orbán said: that due to the protracted war in Ukraine and the ensuing European economic crisis, as well as the increasing migration pressure, special attention must be paid to protecting Hungary’s security and sovereignty in the coming years.
The Defense Council operating within the government will have a prominent role in this, as this body will deal with submissions and reports related to national security services, public security, border police, national defense, refugee affairs, disaster prevention, counter-terrorism, and defense developments, among others.
The Defense Council is a political decision-making forum with special powers for government decision-making, chaired by the Prime Minister and secretary by the Chief National Security Adviser. The members of the Defense Council are the Minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Chief National Security Adviser as a member appointed by the Prime Minister. The State Secretary for Public Administration of the Prime Minister’s Government Office takes part in the Defense Council meeting as a permanent guest.
The Defense Council meets as needed, but at least every two weeks, any member can initiate an extraordinary meeting.
Photo: In the photo published by the Prime Minister’s Press Office, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (b3) at the inaugural meeting of the Defense Council in the Carmelite Monastery on July 26, 2022. Next to the Prime Minister, from left, Levente Magyar, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (b) and Minister of the Interior Sándor Pintér (b2), from right Gábor Bordás, Secretary of State for Administration of the Prime Minister’s Government Office (b4) and Minister of Defense Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky (b5). MTI/Prime Minister’s Press Office/Benko Vivien Cher.
