Not a workforce but an added military capability

Text: defence.hu | Photo: Tamás Kovács | 12:39 October 7, 2026

The task involved 979 Hungarian servicemembers working a total of 28,309 work hours with 145 items of equipment. They built in more than 22,000 cubic meters of stone material, ensured the delivery and handling of more than 38,000 tons of stone, and the job they have done in the Danube riverbed required special military capabilities for engineering, waterborne and air operations – reads the post on Defence Minister Dr. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi social media page.

The Minister of Defence inspected the construction site of the Danube riverbed sill after all the soldiers finally left it, and stated that he is proud of everyone who participated in the work.

“This was not merely a construction work. This was one of the most important peacetime tasks of the Hungarian Defence Forces – when Hungary’s safety and energy security are in danger, the soldiers are there wherever they are needed – emphasized the minister, pointing out that the HDF have supported the work day and night from the beginnings, having helicopter crews, army engineers, divers, EOD technicians, military policemen, logisticians and medical professionals working together on the site.

In a video post, the minister said at his meeting with László Vargyas, the mayor of Dunaszentbenedek, the mayor had told him that the villagers were satisfied with the condition of the work site after the soldiers’ departure: “as if we hoovered the place, swept it up and raked the waste before we left”.

According to Dr. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, the key takeaway of the construction works is perhaps that “our service personnel were not a workforce in Paks, but an added military capability”.