Political shield for Israel in the EU and Elbit customer
Country · Hungary · Country
Hungary under Viktor Orbán has acted as Israel's political shield inside the European Union and as a customer of Israeli weapons manufacturers. EU data show Hungarian arms export licences to Israel of €6M in 2024, after more than €15M in 2014–2022, according to AOAV. The research database DIMSE records a December 2023 memorandum on military cooperation signed in Israel with Elbit, Rafael and IAI, Hungarian purchases of Elbit radios, and a $175M Elbit contract in December 2024 for electronic warfare and DIRCM self-protection suites for aircraft, widely attributed to Hungary although the announcement did not name it. Budapest has opposed EU measures against Israel while buying from the companies that equip its military.
● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
Hungary | a: 21 | b: 1 662 200 | c: 120 436 [Israel, 2023]
Hungary | a: 21 | b: 1 662 200 | c: 120 436 [Israel, 2023]
France granted some €362m of arms-export licences to Israel in 2024 ... Germany granted €169m ... Greece €114m ... Romania €103m ... the Czechs €35m ... Finland €17m ... Hungary (€6m), Latvia (€4m), and Croatia (€2m) ... Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Poland each also issued €1m or fewer
customs data show €5.505m of HS93 "arms and ammunition" exports to Israel from Oct 2023–Mar 2024 [Slovakia]; post-Oct customs dataset shows Hungary only €9,070; Portugal €1.077m HS93 post-Oct customs exports
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