The Unity of NATO is one of the Most Important Factors in Our Days

Szöveg: Szabolcs Nyulas | 2018. december 3. 17:25

The unity of the North Atlantic Alliance, the cohesion of the Member States is one of the most important factors in our days – Lt.-Gen. Steven M. Shepro, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee said in his lecture held at the National University of Public Service (NUPS) in Budapest, on Monday, 3rd December.

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In his lecture the Lieutenant General noted that Hungary is an important strategic partner of the Alliance, a Member State, which understood the challenges of the time and is committed to support e.g. the foreign missions of the organisation. In this respect it is important to understand and to make it understood that the Hungarian soldiers render their service in Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Western Balkans, because they want to protect their homeland from the problems created in these places. NATO is a useful organisation also in our days, which seeks to give responses to the challenges of the time, and the principle of collective defence is now as important as ever – he added.

According to the words of Mr. Steven M. Shepro, the attractiveness of the Alliance – in addition to the collective defence – lies in the fact that it conveys fundamental values: democracy and the rule of law are characteristic of all the Member States. However, NATO has to improve, in order to be able to address the modern crises. Hybrid warfare, cyber war, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and the different state and non-state actors in the conflicts pose challenges, which require finding responses. “We cannot fight the wars of the future with yesterday’s tools, that’s why the organisation needs to develop" – underlined the Lieutenant General.

The Deputy Chairman praised the National University of Public Service, highlighting its innovative role in the Hungarian higher education. As he pointed out, the future officers can learn there exactly what is most needed now: interoperability. There is a growing emphasis on this today, namely the co-operation with the different state and civilian actors.

Before the lecture – in the framework of a courtesy call – Lt.-Gen. Steven M. Shepro was received by Lt.-Gen. Ferenc Korom, Chief of Defence, and Mr. István Szabó, Defence State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence.