Changing Hungarian Role In Afghanistan

On October 27, Imre Szekeres gave an account of the meeting upon the request of the Foreign Affairs and Hungarian Minorities Abroad Committee of the National Assembly, before its members. In his introduction the defence minister spoke about the three main topics discussed at the NATO defence ministerial conference held in Bratislava last week. MoD Chief of Defence Staff General László Tömböl, and MoD State Secretary for Defence Policy József Bali were also present at the discussion.

Three topics in Bratislava

In Slovakia, the first topic of the conference was the discussion of the new priorities of defence expenditure – said Imre Szekeres, then he explained: at the meeting their starting point was that in the current economic situation we can hardly expect the member states to provide new resources. The overstrained national budgets allow a small room for manoeuvre. It has also turned out at the meeting that Hungary is one of the few countries in the NATO where the defence budget of the previous year will not decrease in 2010 either, but in the proportion of the GDP it will stay at the same level.

What has become clear at the meeting – announced the minister – is that the only way a solution can be reached is by reconsidering and optimising the current levels of ambition, since this is what determines the directions of development. Those developments have to be carried out and supported which ensure the collective defence of member states, as well as the attainment of expeditionary capabilities. Therefore a considerable change is expected in the next period in the question of the common budget.

At the session of the committee Imre Szekeres has also announced that Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary general of the NATO will visit Hungary on November 19, and his program includes, among others, the opening of the Medical Centre of Excellence.

The defence minister said that the NATO Response Force (NRF) was also on the agenda of the Bratislava conference. The purpose of the initiative that has been existing for several years is to have a force at the disposal of the Alliance, that can be deployed in any place in the world. The scope of duties of the NRF that previously took part mostly in peace-establishing, peacekeeping and crisis management operations has been extended by preparing the force for fulfilling the tasks stipulated in the fifth paragraph. The Hungarian Defence Forces have participated in the NRF with a lot of types of capabilities and many units; Hungary takes part in the 12,500-strong contingent with a company, which is a significant number of personnel – Imre Szekeres added.

At the Bratislava meeting the third main topic was the new American missile defence system – said the head of the defence portfolio at the session of the committee – that will be capable of providing protection against small distance missiles in two years, and will be fully developed by 2020. The new feature of the plan is that is of global nature, and one of the branches of this global plan will serve the protection of Europe. Moreover, not only will it involve both the allies and the global partners to a greater extent, but at the same time it will not decrease the specific defence capability either.

Afghanistan is still a challenge

At the session of the committee Imre Szekeres also mentioned that it was said at the defence ministerial conference that for the Alliance, the conciliation in Afghanistan is still the biggest challenge. “The situation in Afghanistan is not as bad as it is written by the papers, but it is not as good as we would like" – said the minister, who continued with telling the committee that the conciliation in Afghanistan is not only a military task. At least the same emphasis has to be put on the establishment of an acceptable level of state apparatus and economy than on military operations. The Afghan people have to be provided with alternatives to subsistence and development. The Provincial Reconstruction Teams continue to be excellent examples of this, among them the Hungarian PRT operating in Baghlan province, that has several civilian projects – underlined the head of the defence portfolio.

– Creating the conditions of good government is not only the ISAF forces’ duty but that of the other international organizations as well. In this respect, November 7 is a very significant date, since the second round of the Afghan presidential elections will be held on this day. I think this can be a turning point – said Imre Szekeres.

Pessimistic report

In connection with the McChrystal report published at the Bratislava conference the head of the defence portfolio told before the Foreign Affairs Committee that the report paints a gloomier picture than before about the situation of the Afghanistan mission and the unavoidability of the changes which are necessary to achieving strategic targets. According to the main statement of the report the activity and success of the insurgents is constantly increasing and if the ISAF will not be able to improve the security situation radically within one year, the mission might fail.

Imre Szekeres said General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the American and NATO troops serving in Afghanistan pressed for a significant change in the approach of the military and the culture of operations in Afghanistan, that would increase the power of the ISAF corps and on the other hand, it would bring soldiers closer to the civilian population, in order to restore the weakening sympathy. The general stated: if everything goes well, responsibility can be transferred to the Afghan national security forces in 2013. General McChrystal plans with a 400,000-strong Afghan security force by 2013, of which 240,000 soldiers comprise the Afghan National Army, and 160,000 the police.

For the ISAF it is an important task to guarantee a proper training capacity – added Imre Szekeres –, according to the current plans it would mean 100,000 people a year, but the current capacity is only 65,000 soldiers. Therefore it is not a coincidence that in the future the main directions will be diverted to training. This program, however, is only a necessary, but not a sufficient prerequisite to the conciliation of Afghanistan.

From the suggestions of the general those focusing on the protection of the civilian population are especially important. This may be crucial for the ISAF in recovering the trust of the people of Afghanistan. According to the Hungarian standpoint – the defence minister explained – we have to get closer to the population without risking the lives of our own soldiers even more in the meantime.

In connection with the challenges of communication in Afghanistan Imre Szekeres said that there is no uniform national consciousness in the Asian state. The tribal societies have different cultures and different languages. And due to the complexity of this target group, different methods have to be used in a dialogue and in communication than the usual ones. "If there is one thing the Taliban are more efficient in, then it is communication. This is what we must overcome!" – said the defence minister.

Prolonged mandates

Imre Szekeres also updated the members of the Foreign Affairs and Hungarian Minorities Abroad Committee of the National Assembly on the involvement of our country in Afghanistan. "The participation of the Republic of Hungary in the ISAF gives us a considerable international prestige" – said the minister, then he explained that the Hungarian PRT fulfils not only military but civilian tasks as well. The Hungarian corps have managed to establish excellent relations with local leaders, and the performance of the Hungarian soldiers is generally recognized. This is one of the very important prerequisites to a safe environment. The head of the portfolio added: the government has decided to prolong the mandate of the Hungarian Provincial Reconstruction Team until October 1, 2010.

The defence minister told the committee that the other task of the Hungarian Defence Forces in Afghanistan is in connection with the fact that the Afghan people themselves have to provide for their own security. This is why it is necessary to take part in the training of the Afghan military, because only a disciplined and well-trained Afghan National Army is capable of guaranteeing the security of the country. To this end, the Hungarian Defence Forces have set up an OMLT that also operates in Baghlan province, where Hungarian and American soldiers train one of the battalions of the Afghan military together, which is exemplary. The OMLT has done a lot for the stabilisation of the security situation of the province, therefore the Hungarian government has prolonged the mandate of the team until August 31, 2010 – announced the minister.

Moreover, there is also a Hungarian infantry platoon stationing in Afghanistan until the end of November, and their duty is to safeguard the presidential elections. After the second round on November 7, the troops of the contingent may return to Hungary even at the end of the month.

– Our fourth participation in Afghanistan gets less attention because it is not so visible. What it is about is that Hungarian soldiers play a highly important role at various commands and in the command and control of various operations. These are the so-called individual positions – said the defence minister, adding: there is also a Hungarian special operations team working in Afghanistan.

Changing role

As regards the Hungarian participation in Afghanistan in 2010, Imre Szekeres explained in detail: in line with the modified tasks, the Hungarian Defence Forces are planning to transform their role. The emphasis will be on the training and specialized (further) training of the Afghan military. To this end, an aerial training team would go to Afghanistan, which would assist the preparation of the helicopter corps of the Afghan Air Force at the Kabul airport. They would train Afghan soldiers in aviation procedures and technical service. This team would not take part in combat operations – the minister emphasized, adding: in 2011, our country will send two Mi–17 helicopters to Afghanistan, and together with the aircraft, a 30-strong maintenance crew will also arrive to the Asian country.

All of this is the result of the declaration of intent signed at the defence ministerial conference in Bratislava. Nine member states have joined their efforts to fill a gap – following the rehaul and modernization of the aircraft – in the field of capabilities in Afghanistan. "This is a very significant endeavour!" – confirmed Imre Szekeres, adding: the cooperation aims at setting up joint logistics, since it is worth dispatching helicopters to the country that is several thousand kilometres away only if the logistics conditions do not have to be provided for separately.

One of the new tasks is that there will be an engineering service school for the Afghan National Army, and in cooperation with the Germans, Hungary will also send instructors to the facility. Furthermore the Hungarian Defence Forces will increase the participation of staff officers – announced Imre Szekeres, who also mentioned that there will be changes in the case of the corps which are already operating today. A military contingent from Montenegro will join the Hungarian PRT, the fundamental task of which will be the protection of the camp. The Hungarian military capacity which will be available as a result of that will fulfil tasks of different nature. This will increase the capabilities of the Provincial Reconstruction Team.

In addition to that, the Hungarian Defence Forces are also preparing for the 2010 parliamentary elections in Afghanistan. In case the ISAF decides again that these elections have to be secured, our country wishes to take part in this program in the future too – said the head of the defence portfolio.

Preparing for EU presidency

Imre Szekeres also explained that they have recently elaborated the Hungarian Defence Forces’ program for participation in international operations, in effect until 2016. The work was preceded by an extensive professional and political consultation that had two fundamental pillars. One is the vindication of national interests and the values of the Alliance. When the concept was born the Ministry of Defence also considered it important that the plan should have the support of the public and the society.

According to the plans of the ministry, the two focal points will continue to be the West Balkans and Afghanistan, but in addition to that, we will continue to take part in UN and EU missions alike. Moreover – added the minister –, the Hungarian Defence Forces are ready to undertake a role in the ongoing peacekeeping and peace-establishing operations of the European Union in 2011, the year of the Hungarian EU presidency.

– According to our plans we are able to keep more than ten per cent of the land forces of the Hungarian Defence Forces in operations in a sustainable way, and have reserves. Today there are only a few member states that can fulfil this NATO requirement – said Imre Szekeres, who emphasized at the end of his update: the Hungarian Defence Forces want to fulfil their tasks in a way that lives up to the expectations of the society in the future too. In addition to that, further efforts will be made in order to achieve the goals of military development , in compliance with a parliamentary decision adopted in 2007, which was based on the agreement of the five parties.

Following the update Zsolt Németh, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Hungarian Minorities Abroad Committee of the National Assembly said: the biggest opposition party will continue to support Hungary’s involvement in Afghanistan, and it will do so for several parliamentary cycles. The reason behind this is that we are participating in a NATO operation, in other words, there is an international authorization, which is necessary. Moreover, the operation in Afghanistan has a crucial influence on the future of the NATO. And the most important security policy factor is a successful NATO. For the security of Hungary is guaranteed by the NATO. Furthermore in today’s global world, the ’collapse’ of Afghanistan would inevitably have a very harmful and negative effect on the security of Hungary.

The members of the committee were free to ask questions, which were answered by the defence minister, the chief of the defence staff, and the state secretary for defence policy.