Hungary Supports Montenegro’s NATO Membership

During his one-day visit to Podgorica, Minister Hende conducted closed-door talks with Montenegrin Minister of Defence Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic. The subsequent plenary talks between the partners focused on the security situation of the Western Balkans, on expanding the scope of cooperation in NATO and the European Union and the co-deployment in Afghanistan.

“The agreement is a good opportunity to further deepen military cooperation" – Minister Hende said at a press conference held after the signing of the document .The Minister of Defence added that “today is a milestone in the relations between the two countries, and the contact between the ministries of defence and the armed forces excellently serves peaceful cooperation".

Minister Hende stressed that Hungary was ready to share with Montenegro the knowledge and experience it had accumulated during its own NATO accession process.

Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic pointed out that the Hungarian–Montenegrin military cooperation covered several fields, for example the agreement includes both military education and the mutual sharing of the lessons learned.

The Montenegrin Minister of Defence stressed that the soldiers of the two countries had been serving together for three years with the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. 34 Montenegrin soldiers in six rotations each performed force protection duties at Camp Pannonia in Pol-e Khumri. “I hope that the cooperation will continue with an expanding scope" – Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic said.

The cooperation between Hungary and Montenegro has so far been excellent. Together with other EU countries, Hungary was among the firsts to recognize the independence of the country on 12 June 2006. The Hungarian support to Euro-Atlantic integration is reflected in the fact that Hungary was responsible for running the NATO Contact Point Embassy in Montenegro from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010, which meant that all NATO-related activities were conducted through the Hungarian diplomatic representation. Over the last few years, the Montenegrin partners have stated on several occasions that the support from Hungary was highly important in setting up the independent Ministry of Defence and armed forces of Montenegro.

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