It's a striking contradiction for anyone accustomed to the great "peace" speeches that Viktor Orban has been making on Hungarian national holidays since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. On stage, the nationalist prime minister keeps telling Hungarians that he is doing everything in his power to "save them from war" with their large eastern neighbor, but in front of him, the country's army is often omnipresent and highly promoted.

In booths, soldiers try to enlist recruits by offering salaries of 700,000 forints gross (around €1,700), and pitching themselves to young children, offering them the chance to ride on military vehicles or even play with fake weapons... Some soldiers wear the ceremonial uniform inherited from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a sign of the nostalgia for the era when Hungary dominated a large part of Central Europe.

This image of a peace-loving yet militarized society is symbolic of Hungarians' ambivalence. Despite his opposition to any military support for Ukraine and his refusal to take part in the discussions underway at the European Union level to respond to Donald Trump's rise to power, Orban also takes pride in having greatly strengthened his army, even occasionally claiming to be in favor of a European army.

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