Hungary dismisses chief of staff without notice
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Loading... - Fernando Lopez
- 27 Apr 2023
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Soldiers with their dogs participate in a military exercise in Hajamasker, 120 km (75 miles) west of Budapest, Oct. 11, 2007. (Reuters File Photo)
BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE - AFP APR 27, 2023 6:09 PM
Hungary sacked the country's top army chief without explanation, according to a presidential decree published on Thursday. Several hundred senior officers and military intelligence officers have reportedly been fired this year as a law adopted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government in January allowed the defense minister to sack anyone over the age of 45.
While the government says it wants to rejuvenate the armed forces, opposition parties called the personnel cull "purges" aimed at replacing Western-oriented pro-NATO officers. "With effect from April 27, I have dismissed Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, the commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces, from his position," said a decree signed by President Katalin Novak in Hungary's official gazette. No further details were provided.
Ruszin-Szendi was Hungary's youngest-ever commander when appointed at the age of 46 by Novak's predecessor as president, Janos Ader, in 2019. According to a Defense Ministry statement Thursday, his proposed replacement is Gabor Borondi, 52, currently Hungary's military representative to NATO and the EU.
Ruszin-Szendi "will continue to serve his country in another field," said the statement. The move follows upheaval in senior army ranks this year with the government, which has beefed up defense spending, saying it wants to create "a performance-dependent competitive situation" in the army. Read More…
