Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende’s Talks in Poland

Szöveg: kormany.hu | 2011. szeptember 28. 10:55

On September 22-23 the town of Wroclaw in Poland hosted the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers. The talks provided the EU member states with an opportunity to reassert their joint commitment to the development of the Common Security and Defence Policy.

Discussions during the working dinner on Thursday centered on the current military operations of EU forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Horn of Africa as well as on the planned operation in Libya. The participants received reports from the commanders of EU-led operations. Among the current missions, the one in the Western Balkans is the top priority for Hungary. Bosnia-Herzegovina has a key position in the region, as was previously stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Dr. Viktor Orbán, who visited the EUFOR ALTHEA camp in Sarajevo this summer.

Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende’s contributions focused on Operation ALTHEA too, which is a success story of the EU since it has guaranteed stability during the political transition. The current mandate, however, is going to expire on November 18. Hungary considers it necessary to retain a kind of demonstrative military presence in the country, i.e. a force with a reduced size which is nevertheless able to respond to smaller incidents and may be augmented with reserve forces if need arises.

The Ministers discussed the current issues in military capability development in relation to the future activities within the Common Security and Defence Policy, in particular the issues concerning the EU civil-military planning and C2 capabilities, the deployability of the EU Battle Groups and the capability development initiatives of the member states, the implementation of the “Pooling and Sharing" principle. They explored the possibilities for building partnership relations with the Union’s Eastern neighbors.

Hungary considers regional cooperation a good chance to retain and develop certain military capabilities. It remains to be decided whether some projects will be implemented within regional, NATO or EU-wide cooperation. Hungary gives priority to those forms and areas of cooperation that enable our country to have sustainable and developable capabilities in conformity with our national goals.

Dr. Csaba Hende met with Stefan Wallin, the Defence Minister of the Republic of Finland. At their talks the two discussed the donation of Mi-8 helicopters that took place two weeks earlier, and the plans for a conference on the volunteer reserve system in Hungary in December 2011. The conference will be devoted to development and functioning of the Finnish reserve system, the sharing of lessons learned and the “popularization" of the reserve system concept. In addition to the joint conference, the event will provide a venue for launching an exchange program between the institutions which are running training courses preparing for military observer missions and crisis response operations.

MoD Press Office

Photo: www.mon.gov.pl

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