Hungary enlists army to combat joblessness

GYOR: As Hungary’s coronavirus-hit economy shrinks and unemployment soars, thousands of Hungarians are seeking to join the army, attracted by job stability and a government scheme that fast-tracks recruits toward a military career.

Military service is also one of the Hungarian government’s weapons to keep a lid on joblessness.

“Since the crisis began the number of applicants has risen by 100 percent,” Major Tamas Durgo, head of military recruitment, told AFP at an army office in Budapest. “We have loosened the admission procedure, that doesn’t mean it’s easier to get in now, just faster,” said Durgo in front of an advertisement for military careers.

After a simplified medical test, applicants can sign up for six months of paid training after which they can either return to civilian life or—if they make the grade—embark on a career path in the army.

Apart from traditional military careers, the army also has jobs for engineers and IT experts, drivers and catering staff, said Durgo. And besides defending the country’s borders, or taking part in foreign missions, soldiers also help out during emergencies like floods and epidemics, he said.

Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long underlined the importance of beefing up the military.

His government has been hiking spending on the previously underfunded military since well before the pandemic, with the proportion of GDP spent on defence rising from 0.95 percent in 2013 to 1.21 percent in 2019.

The army has had a high profile in the coronavirus crisis, for example being dispatched to look after hospitals. Orban has emphasized patriotic education in schools while the Hungarian army has expanded a cadet program and unveiled plans this month to operate up to 10 new military high schools by 2030.

With unemployment rocketing due to the coronavirus crisis, officials say many are jumping at the chance of a stable job that the army offers. “Already 2,500 have applied, with 900 starting basic training,” said Szilard Nemeth, a government defense official, last week.—AFP