Hungarian soldiers to mentor troops from Chad during NATO exercise in Africa

Hungarian and Chadian soldiers are to hold a joint military exercise soon, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday. The exercise is a joint event of NATO allies and their African partners and according to the ministry, its goal is to improve counter-terrorism capabilities and cooperation.

The Hungarian Ministry of Defence justified Hungary's participation in the event by pointing out that terrorism is one of the main causes of illegal migration, which is why Hungary is helping curb the two phenomena in collaboration with the countries of the region. The statement recalls that the Hungarian military has previously participated several times in the annual joint military exercise called "Flintlock", which has been organised by the US Special Operations Command (US SOCOM) for NATO allies and cooperating African countries since 2005.

The exercise will kick off at the end of April and will last for two weeks, with more than 500 troops from more than 30 countries participating in Côte d'Ivoire. The Hungarian troops will be mentoring the Chadian unit, which is in line with the framework of the strategic partnership signed between Hungary and Chad in September 2024, the MoD said. They added that the joint exercise will include tactical skills, naval operations, (although this one likely doesn't apply to the two landlocked countries) battlefield exercises and border surveillance operations.

Despite the upcoming joint military exercise with NATO, Chad has been pulling away from Western military cooperation. This is for instance seen in the 30 January departure of all French soldiers who had been stationed there for many years. The volatile country has long struggled with jihadist groups and opposition militias based in its vast, sparsely populated areas. As recently as early January, guerrillas attacked the presidential palace, but government soldiers were able to repel them.

It was announced last year that the Hungarian humanitarian and development office in Chad had opened with "the deployment of one main staff member", and in September the Hungarian government provided a €200 million tied assistance loan to the African state.

The Chadian President visited Hungary in early September. Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno travelled to Budapest following the China-Africa summit in Beijing to finalise security cooperation agreements between Chad and Hungary. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó afterwards spoke about the cooperation between Chad and Hungary, which includes the assistance loan programme and security agreements.

As part of the security agreements, around 100 Hungarian soldiers would be sent to Chad to train local security forces. Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky announced on 13 October last year that the government would be sending 200 Hungarian soldiers to the civil war-torn country of Chad to help contain the migration crisis in the Sahel region. Parliament voted in favour of the military mission on 6 November last year, but weeks before the announcement – and the parliamentary vote – the government had already made the decision to allocate 817 million forints (nearly 2 million euros) to setting up a humanitarian, training and development centre in Chad.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's son, Gáspár Orbán, was also involved in the preparations for the military mission to Chad as a member of the Defence Minister's cabinet. There is no decision yet on exactly when the Hungarian soldiers would leave for Chad. Experts are still speculating about what the Hungarian government's goal might be with the Chad mission. According to the investigative portal VSquare, the Hungarian government wants to establish a military intelligence centre in Chad.