Sixteen teams tested their knowledge in the final round of the Soldiers of 1000 Years defence competition, announced for secondary school students, held on Tuesday at the Budapest Bálna Defence Centre.

At the opening of the event Zsolt Kutnyánszky, State Secretary for Defence Policy, Military Development, and Defence Industry at the Ministry of Defence (HM) emphasized that the issue of the defence of the homeland is important even for secondary school students. ‘We need young people who love their country and are willing to sacrifice for it,’ he said.

‘Thanks to the defence and military development government programme, we can boast increasingly modern military technology, but we cannot do without the support of society,’ the state secretary emphasized. He noted that nowadays it is not easy to instil a sense of patriotism in young people, which is why defence education and personal role models are important. ‘Hungary needs such dedicated, hardworking, action-oriented, and patriotic young people and educators. People for whom Hungarian culture, respect for Hungarian values, and the cause of defence are important,’ Kutnyánszky declared.

Head of the Defence Education Department of the Ministry of Defence Vajk Bánhidy highlighted at the award ceremony following the final that the competition focused on the military traditions, military history, and military policy events of the Hungarian state.

During the competition organized by the Ministry of Defence and the Hungarian Defence Forces, young people competing in teams of five could deepen their interest in military history through playful and skilful tasks, demonstrating their knowledge about the victorious battles of Hungarian military history and the modern-day Hungarian Defence Forces.

In the online round of the competition last autumn 144 secondary school teams participated, of which the best 16 competed in Budapest on Tuesday.

At the Bálna Defence Centre secondary school students competed in twelve disciplines, including VR shooting, Airsoft shooting, virtual drone control, RC vehicle driving, healthcare tasks, and knowledge of World War II military history.

The first place was won by the team of the Kratochvil Károly Military Secondary Boarding School of Szolnok. Second place went to the team of Padányi Bíró Márton Roman Catholic Secondary School, Technical School, and Elementary School in Veszprém. The students of the Wigner Jenő Technical, Information Technology, Vocational School, Secondary Boarding School of Eger stood on the third step of the podium.

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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/HM/MTI