Honvéd Cadet Program at an International Forum

During the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU, this autumn, the Károly Kratochvil Military Secondary School and Student Hostel hosted the European Military Secondary Schools Forum (EUMSSF), which operates under the aegis of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC). The ESDC functions as a network of universities, academies and other institutions conveying the security and defence culture of the EU. The mission of the forum is to bring together European military secondary schools and to create joint educational modules about the history, fundamental values and global strategy of the EU that can be integrated into the curriculum of military educational institutions.

At the beginning of his welcoming speech delivered in the Bessenyei Hall of the county hall, János Czermann underlined the importance of common European values. Then he introduced the Honvéd Cadet Program in brief, which is unique in Europe, and as a result of which the national defence subject is being taught in 141 Hungarian secondary schools with the participation of 15,000 Hungarian students from September 2024.

Major András Fekete emphasized the principle of voluntariness in his speech following the opening ceremony. The principal of the Károly Kratochvil Military Secondary School and Student Hostel introduced the three layers of the Honvéd Cadet Program, the third of which is the education of the students most committed to the case of the homeland, in a boarding school. He underlined that the students do not receive military training but military education in their four member institutions in Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, Szolnok and Hódmezővásárhely. After finishing their studies, the cadets can choose a military career if they wish, and they do so in an increasing number. They join the Hungarian Defence Forces, which offers a more and more appealing career path due to the military development.

Symeon Zambas, Chair of the EUMSSF from Cyprus, expressed his gratitude for the forum members being able to come to Hungary and his hope regarding the future of the organization because there is an increasing interest in its activity. Besides sharing their experiences in Nyíregyháza, the participants of the forum also started to plan joint projects for the future and talked about possible future partnerships among schools. The next significant project of the EUMSSF is the essay writing competition for military secondary school students. Most of the foreign visitors to the professional event held at the seat of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County came from Romanian military secondary schools, while those from Lithuania arrived from the furthest.

Following the forum’s conference in the morning in Nyíregyháza, the guests visited the Defence Centre in Újfehértó in the afternoon, where they were introduced to the operation of the Defence Sports Association.