The Hungarian Armed Forces will cover the funeral costs, widows’ pensions and orphan benefits for the surviving family members, and this amount will be determined by the defence minister and paid directly by the defence ministry. The deceased were uninsured for the past four years.

Zoltán Szendrei, deputy head of the defence union, told the paper that military insurance plans were cancelled under former Defence Minister Csaba Hende on the grounds that insurance costs were too high relative to the risk of accidents. Now it is the defence ministry that is having to compensate families when there are accidents, Szendrei said.

A fifth technician suffered serious but not critical injuries in the explosion and is now in a stable condition. The Socialist Party said support for the victims’ families should be guaranteed by law rather than subject to the minister’s discretion. The party called it “unacceptable” that military personnel were no longer insured, and argued that soldiers “have the right to know what assistance families left behind can expect”.

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) demanded that insurance should be available for all military personnel. DK deputy leader Ágnes Vadai said compensation to be paid to families of the victims is “not a favour but the least that can be done for their service to the homeland”.

The Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party also said that all military and police staff should be insured not as an option but on a mandatory basis. PM spokesman Bence Tordai called it “scandalous” that members of the military had no insurance, and he urged the government to take action.

The defence ministry said that the Hungarian army took full responsibility for its members and “even without an insurance the (fifth) soldier injured in last Friday’s accident and his family members will not lose out”.

The employer is to pay full compensation for lost revenue, costs incurred and material damages, as well as injury compensation in a single payment or in the form of an allowance, it said.

Insurance policies available up to January 1, 2012 had paid limited amounts for accidents or damage, while the amounts the army has provided “in the majority of cases” were “considerably larger”, the ministry said, adding that the fees had not been comparable to compensation paid out by insurance companies. Ruling Fidesz called on the opposition parties “not to exploit the victims for political gain”.

The Hungarian military would pay full compensation to the families and “the amount is expected to be higher than the earlier insurance”. Fidesz also pledged to help the families of the victims.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Mihádák Zoltán