Security, as the year 2022 has shown, is Hungary’s most valued asset, and maintaining it is the most important objective for the Hungarian government, the defence minister said on Friday, in a year-end message. “There is nothing without security,” Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in a video message on Facebook, adding that this is why the government continues to promote peace, and is working to prevent the country from “drifting into a war”, and is further developing its defence capabilities. He noted that the government had further raised the wages of soldiers who as a result “could take home 20% more from September”. The wage increases will continue in 2024, the minister said. The upgrade of the army has also continued with Hungary’s taking delivery of a batch of Lynx combat vehicles and PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers. The minister thanked the troops for their “patriotic” service throughout the year and Hungarian people for their support to the armed forces and cooperation in protecting Hungary’s security.