Csaba Hende: Europe Must Do More for Its Security to Keep NATO Effective
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2014. március 14. 9:00According to Minister of Defence Csaba Hende, Hungary must do more for its security to make sure that NATO remains effective.
The Minister noted that the United States is shifting its focus away from Europe, and the significant reduction in defence expenditures has brought to light the tensions within the Alliance. Csaba Hende is of the opinion that the European allies should increase their defence spending and strengthen regional cooperation. If that does not happen, the prospect of a weakening transatlantic relationship and a less effective NATO will loom large, he added.
Minister of Defence Csaba Hende
According to Csaba Hende, the most significant challenge at the time of Hungary’s accession to NATO was to make sure that NATO’s mentality takes root in the Hungarian Defence Forces. As he said, it had taken several years to achieve this, but the process had been accelerated to a significant extent as a significant portion of the personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces participated in NATO-led operations and training courses and served at various commands of the Alliance in the last fifteen years.
The 9/11 attacks brought a significant shift of emphasis in NATO’s policy. Over the last decade, the Alliance has acquired a global outlook and shifted the focus of its efforts to Afghanistan, the Minister of Defence said.
According to Csaba Hende, Hungary’s accession to NATO is a highly important event even on a historical scale. “Our NATO membership was a substantial recognition of Hungary, a country that became free again". With the acquisition of membership, our country joined the strongest military alliance in the world, which enabled us to “join the ranks of advanced western democracies again", Csaba Hende pointed out.
