The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) held a Defense Day on Saturday beside the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, in conjunction with the DVSC–MTK OTP Bank League match, the organizers told MTI on site.
Major Szabolcs Gulyás, head of the HDF’s Debrecen Recruitment and Supplementary Office, said that more than six military units were on display around the stadium with various technical equipment representing the modernized defence forces.
He explained that the timing of the deployment coincides with the ongoing recruitment campaign, during which candidates can enlist in four military units across three garrisons. He noted that applicants are offered a competitive starting salary of HUF 737,000 gross.
Gulyás emphasized that one can also apply to the HDF’s Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, and that reservists are still being sought in every county—a role that can easily be balanced with existing jobs or studies. All of this information is available at the recruitment tent during Debrecen’s Defense Day, where members of the sports company are also present to actively support recruitment.
Defense Day was integrated into the DVSC–MTK match in several ways: during the teams’ entrance to the stadium, players were accompanied by military orphans and children of soldiers, alongside young members of DVSC’s youth academy, and the second-half kickoff was performed by Master Sergeant Lajos Bere.
Bere told MTI before the match that he had just returned in March from overseas mission service. He serves in the Combat Support Engineering Company of the MH Bocskai István 11th Armored “Hajdúdandár” Brigade and spent six months with the KFOR mission in Kosovo.
When asked why he was chosen to take the kickoff, he said, “They know I’m a big football fan and that Loki [DVSC] is my team—probably that’s why I got the chance to start the second half.”
