The son of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán designed a proposed military deployment to Chad based on religious conviction and anticipated that half the deployed troops would die, according to a serving army captain who confronted him about the plan.
Gáspár Orbán, who studied alongside Captain Szilveszter Pálinkás at Britain's prestigious Sandhurst Military Academy, told his former classmate that "God spoke to him from heaven" commanding him to "save African Christians," Pálinkás revealed in <link url='https://telex.hu/video/2026/04/02/palinkas-szilveszter-interju-honvedseg-katonasag-orban-gaspar-szalay-bobrovniczky-kristof-csad'>an interview with Telex</link> published Thursday.
The extraordinary revelation exposes the extent to which personal connections to Hungary's ruling family influence military planning in the NATO member state. The proposed mission to Chad, approved by parliament in November 2023, would deploy 200 Hungarian troops to the politically unstable Sahel region for what officials described as counter-terrorism operations.
According to Pálinkás, Orbán shared strategic planning details during their conversations. "He told me that during the mission he calculated a fifty percent combat effectiveness loss. Which means that fifty percent of the Hungarian soldiers would die in the mission he was leading," the captain stated.
When Pálinkás attempted to dissuade him with professional military arguments about the unacceptable risk to Hungarian lives, Orbán reportedly responded: "To become an advanced, experienced army, we will gain experience with blood."
The 31-year-old son of the prime minister served as a liaison officer for the Chad deployment despite holding only the rank of lieutenant at the time planning began. Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky justified Orbán's involvement by citing his "special qualifications, legal knowledge and language skills."
Pálinkás emphasized that "no national interest is attached to this mission. Professionally, financially and logistically, we are not ready to carry out an independent campaign in Africa." He noted that far stronger nations have already withdrawn from the region.
The captain said he bypassed normal military channels to confront Orbán directly because "I knew the only way to stop this whole process was to stop him. There's no point going to the Ministry of Defense, because if Gáspár Orbán wants it, it will happen one way or another."
Investigative outlet <link url='https://www.direkt36.hu/en/hiaba-alcazta-magat-orban-gaspar-igy-is-leleplezodott-titkos-afrikai-kuldetese/'>Direkt36</link>, working with French newspaper Le Monde, previously exposed Orbán's covert role in the Chad planning. Despite wearing masks, hats and positioning himself away from cameras during official visits to N'Djamena, investigators identified him through facial recognition analysis.
Sources told Direkt36 that Orbán originally wanted to send Hungarian troops to neighboring Mali, but shifted to Chad after a coup in Mali disrupted his plans. "It was completely irrelevant to him which African country ultimately hosted the mission," journalist Szabolcs Panyi reported.
Orbán attended at least six preparatory meetings between May 2023 and January 2024, using what sources described as "family diplomacy" to establish contacts with the sons of Niger's and Chad's presidents. Before joining the military, he worked as a missionary in Uganda.
Pálinkás believes the mission has been "put aside" due to Hungary's upcoming April 13 parliamentary elections. "They don't want to take such a big political risk," he said. However, he cannot rule out that the government might proceed after the vote if Orbán's Fidesz party retains power.
In Hungary, as across the region, national sovereignty and European integration exist in constant tension. The revelations have sparked fierce debate about civilian control of the military and the influence of personal relationships in a NATO member state where institutional checks remain weak.
Opposition parties seized on the interview as evidence of nepotism and recklessness at the highest levels of government. Péter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza Party, said the disclosure left him "shaken," noting he had been among the few politicians attempting to keep Chad in public discourse.
The Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Pálinkás's allegations about casualty projections and religious motivations. The ministry has previously defended Gáspár Orbán's involvement as appropriate given his qualifications.
Military experts warn that the proposed deployment would stretch Hungary's limited expeditionary capabilities beyond breaking point. The country maintains approximately 27,000 active personnel, with no recent experience conducting independent operations in conflict zones thousands of kilometers from NATO support infrastructure.
