Socialists see holes in 2015 defence budget

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary has cut defence spending, and based on the 2015 budget the government is “unlikely to keep its defence promises”, Marta Demeter, a Socialist opposition lawmaker, said on Sunday.

Hungary’s defence spending will be cut to 0.75 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 from 0.79 percent in 2014, Demeter told a press conference. She said that the 2015 draft budget has no resources to cover the pledges Hungary had made at the NATO conference in Wales in September.

The budget bill allocated 1.5 billion forints (EUR 4.88m) in additional funding for basic operations and upgrades next year, which is “not enough for anything,” she added. Neither is the 20 billion forints earmarked for upgrading the Papa airbase included in the budget bill, and funds to cover upgrading the helicopter fleet are also missing, she said.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters