Hungary sends troops to fight ISIS

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) joined Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz and the Christian Democratic Peoples’ Party (KDNP) in voting to send 150 soldiers into Iraq, in order to bolster the American-led campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS). While Fidesz, KDNP and DK supported the mission, the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), the Politics Can Be Different (LMP) green party, the far-right Jobbik and two left-leaning independent MP’s voted against the deployment of Hungarian soldiers.

Hungarian soldiers undergo training. Photo: honvedelem.hu / Sándor Galambos.

Hungarian soldiers undergo training. Photo: honvedelem.hu / Sándor Galambos.

In the end, Mr. Orbán’s government required two-thirds of votes in parliament to authorize the deployment, and they didn’t have any trouble securing this support. A total of 137 parliamentarians voted for the motion, while 57 opposed it. The issue clearly cut across traditional party lines, although it did suggest what many had observed about some factions within the so-called left-centre opposition: on matters of the economy and on many foreign policy issues, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s DK is effectively a centre-right party, despite his famously grating and colourful critiques of Mr. Orbán.

Hungarian troops will stay in Iraq until December 31st, 2017. Initially, Budapest will send in 110 soldiers to help secure a Kurdish military base in northern Iraq. Csaba Hende, Hungary’s defence minister, noted that the United States had “explicitly requested a Hungarian contribution” to the mission against ISIS.

Zsolt Németh, chair of Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and leading Fidesz politician, observed that “the world has been faced with such barbaric terrorism, that a reaction from Hungary has become unavoidable.” Mr. Németh added that both national security and ethical considerations underpin Hungary’s troop deployment.

Accoridng to Mr. Németh, the Fidesz government is convinced that it must act, as the ISIS-led genocide against Christian minorities is especially shocking and disturbing to Mr. Orbán’s “Christian-engaged” government. (The exact Hungarian term that Mr. Németh used here was “keresztény elkötelezettségű, which would refer to a commitment to Christian values. Mind you, the government’s regressive socio-economic policies raise some rather large questions, when it comes to the nature and scope of this “commitment.”)

Mr. Gyurcsány’s DK explained his support of the Orbán government in sending troops to Iraq by noting that “combating ISIS is a fundamental human and ethical responsibility, and it is also our obligation as an ally.”

“We cannot remain idle as we witness total destruction and mass murders,” added Mr. Gyurcsány.

The Socialists sought to amend the motion before parliament, arguing instead that rather than sending in ground troops, Hungary should offer training to the forces fighting in Iraq, but do so on Hungarian soil. Additionally, MSZP proposed that injured coalition troops be offered medical treatment in Hungary, whenever appropriate.

Now that the original motion has passed, the mission against ISIS is expected to cost Hungary approximately 20 billion forints (US $70 million).

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