Discussions between Hungarian Chief of Defence and Serbian Defence Minister

Szöveg: Defence Staff | 2014. november 28. 16:30

On the second day of his visit to Serbia, Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, Chief of the Defence Staff held discussions with the Serbian Minister of Defence, laid a wreath by the monument to the unknown hero in Belgrade and visited the land force brigade in Novi Sad.

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At the start of the meeting, Serbian Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić thanked Hungary for the assistance given to Serbia during the springtime flood, and welcomed the increasing Hungarian role in Kosovo. In his introductory words, he noted that he counts on KFOR as a stabilizing factor in the region. He expressed thanks for helping Serbia’s integration into the European Union, since, as he noted, his country continues to be committed to its integration into the EU. He said that the military-to-military relations between the two countries were good, welcomed the steps taken to promote cooperation, and told the Chief of Defence that Serbia is planning to develop its armed forces from 2015 onwards, and wants to deploy 500 troops on missions in foreign countries by the end of 2014. The two partners assured the joint UNFICYP mission of their support.

Speaking about military cooperation, Gen. Tibor Benkő highlighted the common pre-deployment training for the UNFICYP mission in Szolnok, the regularly held combined exercises, the co-deployment in foreign missions and the participation in the TISA Multinational Engineer Battalion. Speaking about the role of the Hungarian Defence Forces in Kosovo, the Hungarian Chief of Defence pointed out that the creation of peace and security in our close neighborhood is a top priority for Hungary.

The topics of the discussion included the ways of developing defence industry in Hungary and Serbia, and an earlier discussion on defence ministers’ level about the establishment of a disaster relief centre in Vojvodina.

The Serbian Minister of Defence and the Hungarian Chief of Defence agreed that the combined exercises of the river flotillas should be carried on, and that there is an urgent need for an agreement on the exchange of radar data in the interest of effective air defence. The Serbian Minister of Defence said that the development of the armed forces’ counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) capability is a priority, and, according to Gen. Benkő, the NATO-accredited C-IED training in Hungary may contribute to this attaining this goal.

After the meeting, the Hungarian Chief of Defence concluded his visit to Serbia with a visit to the land forces brigade in Novi Sad, where he watched static and dynamic displays.