The American air base in Taszár

In November 1995 the Hungarian Parliament allowed American and NATO troops to go through and station in Hungary. Airports of Kalocsa, Sármellék, Kiskunlacháza and Taszár were examined as possible places by the American forces, and finally Taszár was chosen because of the length of the runway and the position of the airport itself. At that point troops of the Hungarian air base stationing there were moved to the military airport of Pápa. Taszár air base functioned as the centre for the Southern Slavic mission of USA between 1996 and 2004: as a mission base of predators and also as a training centre. The complex served 20 thousand people in average at a time including military and civil staff and soldiers starting for or leaving missions or being trained there as well. The base had all logistic, welfare and healthcare appliances which are everyday in the American army.

In 1996 even president Clinton visited Taszár. In 2003 the training of Iraqi policemen there occurred, but the idea was dropped later. With the success of the Southern Slavic mission maintaining the air base became needless, so the rental agreement was altered, so that after the evacuation of the airport, the American flag was hauled down and the territory was given back to the Hungarian Army. On the 1st day of October in 2005 the airport was totally closed based on economic reasons and has not been opened since then.