Hungarians say no to the conscription

“Europe is at war”, Ursula von der Leyen declared in her speech in September. The statement can be seen as a milestone: since then, Brussels and some Member State leaders have argued that armed conflict between the EU and Russia is inevitable, and that the Union must therefore switch to a war economy. Belief in a future armed conflict has now become so strong that Denmark’s minister called it absurd that the Hungarian prime minister does not want to bring war into the EU.

Since warfare requires not only weapons but also soldiers, an intense debate has begun in more and more Member States about the reinstatement of compulsory military service. In Germany, for example, negotiations have already begun and members of the governing coalition have agreed that they need more soldiers because, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz put it, “Europe is not yet at war, but it is no longer at peace either”. At the end of October, following a proposal by the HDZ, a member of the European People’s Party, the Croatian parliament adopted a bill to reinstate compulsory military service after seventeen years. Poland also put the issue on the agenda.

Preparations for war also appeared in Hungarian public life. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, a politician from the Tisza Party, said at a forum in Zalaegerszeg that “in times of trouble, everyone must be brought in immediately”. The statement contradicts the expectations of Hungarian citizens. New research by Századvég shows that four-fifths of the adult population in Hungary oppose the introduction of conscription.

There is a consensus across society on this issue: in addition to 91% of FIDESZ-KDNP voters, 80 % of those who are undecided and three-quarters of Tisza supporters also reject the reinstatement of compulsory military service. The fact that Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi is nevertheless going against his supporters highlights that the Brussels elite can expect their allies to toe the line on certain issues, even if this goes against the interests of the Member States they represent or the expectations of their voters.