The Prime Minister was asked on public news channel M1 whether there was a dispute between the government and Speaker of the National Assembly László Kövér over this issue, after press reports of Mr. Kövér flagging that conscription would be reintroduced, claiming that its abolishment ten years ago by the then-ruling Socialist-Liberal cabinet was an “disastrous mistake”.

Mr. Orbán said there was no such dispute and the house speaker did not say that mandatory military service would be reintroduced in Hungary. The issue is not being discussed by the government, PM Orbán said.

Abolishing conscription to military service in Hungary was a “disastrous mistake” but to effectively reintroduce it would require approval from all European Union member states, Mr. Kövér said in an interview with regional daily Új Néplap published on Saturday.

If some EU countries were to decide to reintroduce conscription, it would make a lot of people move to conscription-free states. So it should either be done across the EU based on a pan-European decision or it should not be done at all, Mr. Kövér told the paper.

Over the weekend, left-wing opposition parties MSZP, DK, Együtt and PM all firmly rejected the suggestion of reintroducing mandatory military service.

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MTI photo: Bruzák Noémi