Csaba Hende (born 5 February 1960) is a Hungarian politician who served as

Minister of Defence of Hungary The Minister of Defence of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország honvédelmi minisztere) is a member of the Hungarian cabinet and the head of the Ministry of Defence. The defence minister appoints the Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The curren ...

from 29 May 2010 to 9 September 2015 when he resigned. Hende was born in

Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...

in 1960. In 1983 he graduated in law at the

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University ( hu, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hung ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, then practiced as a lawyer in his hometown of Szombathely. Beginning in 1988, he was a member of

Hungarian Democratic Forum The Hungarian Democratic Forum ( hu, Magyar Demokrata Fórum, MDF) was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a Hungarian nationalist, national-conservative, Christian-democratic ideology. The party was represented continuously in the ...

(MDF). In 1991 he joined the government as parliamentary secretary of state of the Defence Ministry. During the rule of socialist-liberal cabinet (1994–1998) he returned to practice law in Szombathely. In the first government of

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...

he served as Secretary of State in the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. At the beginning of the 21st century, he held high functions in the MDF party (including Vice-President), but in 2004 he joined

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán. It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...

. In 2006 and 2010 he was re-elected to the National Assembly on behalf of Fidesz in Vas County. Hende was appointed Minister of Defence in 2010. His first measure as minister was the replacement of the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces general (OF-9) László Tömböl and more high-rank military officers. The

Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary. It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a post-communist evolution a ...

criticized the decision as incomprehensible. Hende justified his step with the fact that many tax evasions and maladministration happened in the army under the previous government. He said that he would restore the honour and prestige of the

Hungarian Defence Forces The Hungarian Defence Forces ( hu, Magyar Honvédség) is the national defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces is under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains the political and civil control over ...

. On 7 September 2015, Hende resigned his post after the armed forces, which he oversaw as minister, were building the

Hungarian border barrier In 2015, Hungary built a border barrier on its border with Serbia and Croatia. The fence was constructed during the European migrant crisis (see timeline), with the aim to ensure border security by preventing illegal immigrants from entering, and ...

(to keep migrants and refugees out of Hungary) too slowly. He was replaced by

István Simicskó István Simicskó (born 29 November 1961) is a Hungarian politician of the governing Fidesz–KDNP coalition. He has been a Member of the National Assembly since 1998. He served as Minister of Defence from 10 September 2015 to 18 May 2018. Studi ...

on 10 September. On 2 October 2017, Hende was appointed Chairman of the Legislative Committee in the Hungarian Parliament, and thus also became Deputy Speaker for Legislation.

Personal life

He is married. His first wife was Szilvia Stiber. They had two daughters together, Júlia and Borbála. His second wife is Mónika Szajlai.HENDE CSABA – FIDESZ – 2014-ES VAGYONNYILATKOZAT – January 15, 2015
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References

External links

Biography
1960 births Living people Defence ministers of Hungary Hungarian Democratic Forum politicians Fidesz politicians Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2002–2006) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2014–2018) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2018–2022) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2022–2026) People from Szombathely {{Hungary-politician-stub