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NATO is Further Strengthened with the Development of Europe’s Defence Capabilities

Szöveg: honvedelem.hu |  2019. május 14. 21:29

Hungary strongly supports the development of the European defence capabilities, in which at the same time we see NATO’s European strengthening – stated Defence Minister Tibor Benkő after the EU foreign and defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

Galéria

The foreign and defence ministers of the North Atlantic military alliance met in Brussels on 13 to 14 May. The allies put the establishing of closer relations between NATO and the EU at the centre of the agenda, within these they discussed other possible forms of military-to-military co-operation, and the current defence policy issues affecting both organisations.

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Prior to the discussions the defence ministers of the V4s, as well as France and Germany held a working meeting, where among other things Defence Minister Tibor Benkő said that the implementation of the Zrínyi 2026 National Defence and Armed Forces Development Program supports the strengthening of the autonomous European defence capabilities, as the vast majority of our country’s purchases come from the European defence industry market. He reaffirmed the fundamental principle of Hungarian foreign policy to his colleagues according to which the best way to manage crises, is to handle them on the place where they occur.

An important moment of the Brussels meeting was that Austria also signed the memorandum of understanding to accede to the Regional Special Operations Component Command (R-SOCC) to be established in Hungary. Following the signature, Tibor Benkő pointed out that Austria’s accession is a perfect example of how our EU-partners can be involved into the developing NATO framework operations, thereby strengthening the security environment of the Euro-Atlantic area.

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Our country is interested in deepening the co-operation between NATO and the EU – the Minister noted. As he said, particularly the military mobility and the countering of hybrid threats are the areas, where the co-operation between the two organisations has an “added value". During the session of the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board, our country also signed the EDA’s new mobility programme on optimizing the permission procedure of troops’ cross-border movement within Europe.

The Minister emphasised that Hungary strongly supports the development of the European defence capabilities. He said that it is important for us to be net beneficiaries of the projects implemented in the framework of the Permanent Structured Co-operation (PESCO), and that the Hungarian defence industry can benefit from the available EU funds even in the medium term.

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Furthermore, NATO’s readiness initiative, the development of military mobility, and the burden-sharing among the Member States were among the topics of the meeting. In connection with the latter, the Minister underlined that Hungary is among the good performers in this field. As he said, our defence spending will reach the 2 % of the GDP by 2024, and we appropriate 20 % of our defence expenditure for modernisation this year, too.

In the Tuesday plenary session of the foreign and defence ministers, the security situation of the Sahel countries and the EU’s contribution to the stability of the region were discussed. Evaluating the meeting, Tibor Benkő concluded that the stability of the region is of strategic importance for the European security, that is why Hungary contributes to the European Union’s joint mission conducted in the Sahel zone.

Photos of the Ministry of Defence

CímkékegyüttműködésEurópai Unióhaderőfejlesztéshonvédelmi minisztermegbeszélésmisszióNATOV4Zrínyi 2026
Ha érdekelnek a Magyar Honvédség hírei, iratkozz fel hírlevelünkre!
The Military Attachés Competing with Each Other
Előrelépés a védelmi költségvetés és a közös védelmi beruházások növelése terén