Hungarian Politics

[Tamas]

In the meantime, chairman of the Parliament, (FIDESZ hardliner) decided not to fly the EU flag on the Parliament, since it is not mandatory. But he will fly the flag of Szekelys (a still rock solid Hungarian enclave in the middle of Romania), to show support for autonomy efforts.

Oh, and one of his deputies is a Jobbik guy, who happens to be an ex-skinhead (the east European hard core neonazi kind)

[Tamas]

  An example of where social policy is at in Hungary ATM.

Miskolc is the major eastern city. It is also largely a shithole as I know. Lots and lots of unemployed poor people. Most of them are gypsies, at least the poorest ones.

The city has declared that every unemployed person who agrees to relocate from the city will be given grants to help them.

Next up, one of the nearby smaller cities declared that anyone who moves to them using grants from an other municipality will not be eligible for social aid there.

[Ed Anger]

A bag of beets to leave! Such a rich bounty.

[Admiral Yi]

Reminds me of Chicago giving bus tickets to people willing  to move to Wisconsin.

[Tamas]

And since Orban is so loud about "give respect to Hungary, Brussels" (that is actually their campaign slogan for the EU elections), plus flexing muscles against Ukraine, here is the breakdown of the Hungarian military:

Officers: 5690
NCOs: 8845
Civilian office workers: 6670
Soldiers: 7895

We have two armored units with 7-7 T72s (plus one command vehicle each). Those in the know claim about 4 tanks in each unit is fit for action.

We had a bunch of Hinds but we decided we don't need them anymore.

Plus a few Grippens which barely fly as it is too expensive, although they do NATO patrols over Hungary and Slovenia.

[jimmy olsen]

And since Orban is so loud about "give respect to Hungary, Brussels" (that is actually their campaign slogan for the EU elections), plus flexing muscles against Ukraine, here is the breakdown of the Hungarian military:

Officers: 5690
NCOs: 8845
Civilian office workers: 6670
Soldiers: 7895

That soldier to officer ratio is some Land of Oz level bullshit 

[Syt]

Austria is also cutting down its military expenses to the point where they run into trouble keeping their gear in usable shape, but they are still a bit away from such levels.

[mongers]

And since Orban is so loud about "give respect to Hungary, Brussels" (that is actually their campaign slogan for the EU elections), plus flexing muscles against Ukraine, here is the breakdown of the Hungarian military:

Officers: 5690
NCOs: 8845
Civilian office workers: 6670
Soldiers: 7895

That soldier to officer ratio is some Land of Oz level bullshit 

Maybe they ended conscription, but then found they could only afford to employ small numbers of enlisted? I don't know just guessing.

Or would you rather they follow the US example and ramp up military spending and pay for it on the 'never, never' ?

[Tamas]

Yeah I think this is the result of the usual solution over here (whoops, over there).

They got an overgrown socialist system (mass conscript military ran by professional officers), which they want to rationalise. However from the sheer size of the thing and it's influence on it's own fate, such a "rationalisation" can only go through if it avoid hurting anyone (so in this case abolishing conscription but leaving the officer corps meant to lead a huge ass army intact).

At the end, they end up with something that has all the disadvantages of the communist system, but none of the advantages of that, or the new system.

That's pretty much the story of the country.

[Grey Fox]

And since Orban is so loud about "give respect to Hungary, Brussels" (that is actually their campaign slogan for the EU elections), plus flexing muscles against Ukraine, here is the breakdown of the Hungarian military:

Officers: 5690
NCOs: 8845
Civilian office workers: 6670
Soldiers: 7895

That soldier to officer ratio is some Land of Oz level bullshit 

Maybe they ended conscription, but then found they could only afford to employ small numbers of enlisted? I don't know just guessing.

Or would you rather they follow the US example and ramp up military spending and pay for it on the 'never, never' ?

China is paying for it.

[mongers]

Yeah I think this is the result of the usual solution over here (whoops, over there).

They got an overgrown socialist system (mass conscript military ran by professional officers), which they want to rationalise. However from the sheer size of the thing and it's influence on it's own fate, such a "rationalisation" can only go through if it avoid hurting anyone (so in this case abolishing conscription but leaving the officer corps meant to lead a huge ass army intact).

At the end, they end up with something that has all the disadvantages of the communist system, but none of the advantages of that, or the new system.

That's pretty much the story of the country.

Have you considered a new career as a Hungarian diplomat?

[Tamas]

Orban and his followers keep telling that the West is in steep decline (according to the succession of official people in Hungary, it has been in steep decline in the last 60 years), but gotta' say these before-after pics of Hungarian EU MPs suggest otherwise:
http://index.hu/kulfold/2014/05/23/mit_csinal_az_emberbol_5_ev_hanyatlo_nyugat/

[alfred russel]

Yeah I think this is the result of the usual solution over here (whoops, over there).

They got an overgrown socialist system (mass conscript military ran by professional officers), which they want to rationalise. However from the sheer size of the thing and it's influence on it's own fate, such a "rationalisation" can only go through if it avoid hurting anyone (so in this case abolishing conscription but leaving the officer corps meant to lead a huge ass army intact).

At the end, they end up with something that has all the disadvantages of the communist system, but none of the advantages of that, or the new system.

That's pretty much the story of the country.

If Hungary really had some looming threat that created a need for a military, it wouldn't necessarily be a silly situation. Have a large officer corps with a skeleton staff, and that way when the military is needed the conscripts can be quickly replaced and you then have a massive army very quickly led by experienced professional officers.

Probably better than our system of just keeping a massive military of all ranks, and then looking for places to use it.

[Ed Anger]

Like invading Romania.

[Tamas]

Yeah I think this is the result of the usual solution over here (whoops, over there).

They got an overgrown socialist system (mass conscript military ran by professional officers), which they want to rationalise. However from the sheer size of the thing and it's influence on it's own fate, such a "rationalisation" can only go through if it avoid hurting anyone (so in this case abolishing conscription but leaving the officer corps meant to lead a huge ass army intact).

At the end, they end up with something that has all the disadvantages of the communist system, but none of the advantages of that, or the new system.

That's pretty much the story of the country.

If Hungary really had some looming threat that created a need for a military, it wouldn't necessarily be a silly situation. Have a large officer corps with a skeleton staff, and that way when the military is needed the conscripts can be quickly replaced and you then have a massive army very quickly led by experienced professional officers.

Probably better than our system of just keeping a massive military of all ranks, and then looking for places to use it.

I have doubts about the actual ability of most of those 100% idle officers. We have a few hundred men around the world in various missions including Afghanistan, and they seem to be doing a good job, but that's just a tiny minority.