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Magyar Nemzet, Hungary
Sept 26 2012
Hungarian Citizens Are Not Exposed to Danger
by T.N.
At his hearing, State Secretary Janos Lazar, who has been in charge of
the Information Office (IH) the civilian intelligence service since
September, said that the organization has never been accused of
fulfilling political tasks and the IH has been able to keep away from
"the world of political intrigues" in the last 22 years.
He also said that, in his opinion, the time has not yet come for the
modification of the national security law and, although the relevant
efforts are legitimate, they are not mature. At the same time, he
regards as important the strengthening of internal supervision, Janos
Lazar pointed out. Answering a question, he said that, according to
his professional position, the IH needs an internal supervision
system.
Speaking about the role of the IH supervision in the current system,
he said that it is fully compatible with the German model, namely
that, in addition to the civilian intelligence service, the military
intelligence service is also supervised by the chancellor's office. He
pointed out that guaranteeing the country's financial independence
represents special attention and increased workload for the IH in the
future too. He signalled that, for this, he will propose that the IH
receive the necessary financial means for the "new type of tasks."
He mentioned the fact that the IH budget ranged from 7.7 billion to 8
billion forints last year. In his words, this amount covers the
current activity, but if they expect higher level activity and more
serious achievements from the organization, this will need more money.
He added that highly trained personnel is needed, as well as technical
and technological development.
He also mentioned the fact that particular attention to the country's
energy security is among the outstanding tasks of the IH. In
connection with this, he called the fact that the country's natural
gas purchasing contract ends in 2015 one of Hungary's most serious
issues.
Janos Lazar also called the IH's national strategy tasks an important
issue. He pointed out that the introduction of double citizenship
represents a serious task and responsibility for the national security
services, because they have to protect the interests of Hungarian
citizens beyond the borders along with honouring and maintaining the
partnership relations with the neighbouring countries.
He drew the attention to the fact that the number of Hungarian
citizens in the Carpathian Basin is expected to increase by 500,000 by
2014, and this represents serious extra tasks and responsibility for
the IH. In his view, we must develop an election procedure system
which represents the smallest risk to the Hungarian citizens beyond
the borders and, therefore, in his view, registration in this circle
is inevitable, just like voting by mail.
Answering the deputies' questions, Janos Lazar also spoke about the
Azeri extradition affair and its repercussions. He repeated the
government's earlier positions and mentioned the fact that, since the
brutal murder committed in 2004, the prevailing Azeri government has
continuously asked Hungary to extradite the Azeri soldier, including
the current government. In his view, the decision on the extradition
did not represent a real security risk for any Hungarian citizen.
He pointed out that "we have been living together with Armenians here
in the Carpathian Basin for 600 years and nobody can seriously think
that there is a responsible politician in Hungary who would question
the legitimacy of the Armenian community living in Hungary or in the
territory of the historical Hungary or wanted to harm them in any way,
nothing like that," At the same time, referring to opposition
deputies, he said that "people who do not know anything about
Armenians suddenly appearing as their legal protectors is a political
action at least and not genuine."
Janos Lazar also mentioned that Prime Minister Viktor Orban will
travel to Georgia on Wednesday [ 26 September] where ther e are
300,000 Armenians. He thought that it would transpire how the Armenian
community "reacts" to the prime minister's visit.
According to MSZP deputy Tamas Harangozo, Janos Lazar's words made it
clear among other things that every security and diplomatic risk was
clear and unequivocal to every government member and the decision was
made aware of all this. In his view, the question is what Viktor Orban
received in exchange, and this will transpire sooner or later.
[Translated from Hungarian]
Sept 26 2012
Hungarian Citizens Are Not Exposed to Danger
by T.N.
At his hearing, State Secretary Janos Lazar, who has been in charge of
the Information Office (IH) the civilian intelligence service since
September, said that the organization has never been accused of
fulfilling political tasks and the IH has been able to keep away from
"the world of political intrigues" in the last 22 years.
He also said that, in his opinion, the time has not yet come for the
modification of the national security law and, although the relevant
efforts are legitimate, they are not mature. At the same time, he
regards as important the strengthening of internal supervision, Janos
Lazar pointed out. Answering a question, he said that, according to
his professional position, the IH needs an internal supervision
system.
Speaking about the role of the IH supervision in the current system,
he said that it is fully compatible with the German model, namely
that, in addition to the civilian intelligence service, the military
intelligence service is also supervised by the chancellor's office. He
pointed out that guaranteeing the country's financial independence
represents special attention and increased workload for the IH in the
future too. He signalled that, for this, he will propose that the IH
receive the necessary financial means for the "new type of tasks."
He mentioned the fact that the IH budget ranged from 7.7 billion to 8
billion forints last year. In his words, this amount covers the
current activity, but if they expect higher level activity and more
serious achievements from the organization, this will need more money.
He added that highly trained personnel is needed, as well as technical
and technological development.
He also mentioned the fact that particular attention to the country's
energy security is among the outstanding tasks of the IH. In
connection with this, he called the fact that the country's natural
gas purchasing contract ends in 2015 one of Hungary's most serious
issues.
Janos Lazar also called the IH's national strategy tasks an important
issue. He pointed out that the introduction of double citizenship
represents a serious task and responsibility for the national security
services, because they have to protect the interests of Hungarian
citizens beyond the borders along with honouring and maintaining the
partnership relations with the neighbouring countries.
He drew the attention to the fact that the number of Hungarian
citizens in the Carpathian Basin is expected to increase by 500,000 by
2014, and this represents serious extra tasks and responsibility for
the IH. In his view, we must develop an election procedure system
which represents the smallest risk to the Hungarian citizens beyond
the borders and, therefore, in his view, registration in this circle
is inevitable, just like voting by mail.
Answering the deputies' questions, Janos Lazar also spoke about the
Azeri extradition affair and its repercussions. He repeated the
government's earlier positions and mentioned the fact that, since the
brutal murder committed in 2004, the prevailing Azeri government has
continuously asked Hungary to extradite the Azeri soldier, including
the current government. In his view, the decision on the extradition
did not represent a real security risk for any Hungarian citizen.
He pointed out that "we have been living together with Armenians here
in the Carpathian Basin for 600 years and nobody can seriously think
that there is a responsible politician in Hungary who would question
the legitimacy of the Armenian community living in Hungary or in the
territory of the historical Hungary or wanted to harm them in any way,
nothing like that," At the same time, referring to opposition
deputies, he said that "people who do not know anything about
Armenians suddenly appearing as their legal protectors is a political
action at least and not genuine."
Janos Lazar also mentioned that Prime Minister Viktor Orban will
travel to Georgia on Wednesday [ 26 September] where ther e are
300,000 Armenians. He thought that it would transpire how the Armenian
community "reacts" to the prime minister's visit.
According to MSZP deputy Tamas Harangozo, Janos Lazar's words made it
clear among other things that every security and diplomatic risk was
clear and unequivocal to every government member and the decision was
made aware of all this. In his view, the question is what Viktor Orban
received in exchange, and this will transpire sooner or later.
[Translated from Hungarian]