Minister of Defence sworn in

Speaking about the defence minister’s portfolio during the introduction of the new ministers, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said that he asked Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi to serve as minister of defence.

“General Ruszin-Szendi has served the homeland throughout his life, both as a soldier and as Chief of Defence. He exactly knows what it means to take responsibility for people and make decisions in difficult situations” – underlined the Prime Minister. Péter Magyar pointed out that Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi was assigned the task of restoring the esteem, combat readiness and professional prestige of the Hungarian Defence Forces, so that “Hungarian soldiers can feel again that the country trusts them, respects them and values their service”.

The Prime Minister has set the goal of achieving that Hungary has such defence forces at which “the Hungarians can look with a sense of security and pride every day of the year”.

Defence Minister Lieutenant General Dr. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi was born on 5 May 1973 in Miskolc. He is married and has two daughters.

He took his first degree from the artillery officer and geodetic engineer specialization of Lajos Kossuth Military College in 1995. He earned an MSc in military leadership and a doctoral (PhD) degree in military science at Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University in 2010. He also earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the U.S. Army War College in 2014. He started his military service in Tapolca in 1995 at the HDF 5th Csobánc MLRS Artillery Regiment as target acquisition sound battery and platoon leader of the staff battery. From 1997, he served first as deputy battery commander and training officer of the 3rd MRLS battery of the HDF 101st “Szigetvári” Zrínyi Miklós Mixed Artillery Brigade in Pécs, then as chief of staff and later deputy commander of the combat subunits of the MLRS battalion until 2001. In 2003, he was appointed senior officer at the doctrinal section of the G3 operations directorate of the HDF Land Forces Component Command in Székesfehérvár.

In what followed, he was chief of plans at the HDF 25th György Klapka Light Infantry Brigade, then served as acting chief of G3 in Tata before being transferred to the Szolnok-based HDF 34th László Bercsényi Special Operations Forces Battalion as chief of staff, deputy commander and commander of the HDF 25/88 Light Infantry (Airmobile) Battalion. In 2007, he became commander of a Military Advisory and Liaison Team (MALT) in the NATO Training Mission Iraq (NTM-I), and in 2011, he was appointed commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) in Afghanistan.

Between 2014 and 2016, he was Head of Land Forces Department and acting chief of the HDF Defence Staff J3 Operations Directorate. In 2016, he was appointed commander of the HDF 5th Bocskai István Infantry Brigade. From 2019, he was Head of the Ministerial Secretariat at the Ministry of Defence and, from 2020, Deputy State Secretary of the Department of Human Resources Management until 2021. From 3 June 2021, he served as Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces and then Chief of the HDF Defence Staff until 27 April 2023.

At the 2026 parliamentary elections, he obtained a parliamentary mandate as MP of the Tisza Party in the 5th constituency of Hajdú-Bihar County. On 12 May 2026, President of Hungary Tamás Sulyok appointed him Minister of Defence on the recommendation of Prime Minister Péter Magyar.

He holds numerous military and civilian recognitions and decorations. Among others, he received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (military division), the Service Medal Gold Class, the Officer Service Medal 2nd Class and the US Army Achievement Medal (USAAM), as well as the NATO Medal for ISAF Peacekeeping, the Service Medal for Illegal Migrant Crisis Prevention, and Service Medals for Flood Protection and Disaster Management. Among his civilian awards, he is recipient of the Pro Scientia gold coin of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the János Korponay golden ring of the Hungarian Association of Military Science, the Pro Urbe Award of the city of Debrecen and the title of Honorary Citizen of the University of Miskolc.

His hobby is parachuting and his creed is the respect for human values, as a result of which he was elected chairman of the Szolnok Honvéd Parachuting Sport Association in 2010 and received the “Commander of the Year” title at the regional Prima Award Gala in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County in 2012.

He is known as the developer and initiator of the Hungarian Soldier Program, in the spirit of which he pays special attention to the relationship between the Hungarian Defence Forces and the citizens of Hungary, as well as to continuously improving the quality of social relations.