Exemplary Relations Between Hungary And ACT

Upon the invitation of General László Tömböl, MoD Chief of Defence Staff, General Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) has paid an official visit to Hungary. General Abrial had bilateral talks with Minister of Defence Imre Szekeres and General László Tömböl on the transformation of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC). The chief of defence staff informed the guest of the initial experiences of the NATO Military Medicine Centre of Excellence, and the long term concept of the Hungarian Defence Forces to enhance their participation in the network of NATO centres of excellence.

In Szentendre General Stéphane Abrial opened the NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) conference on the protection against improvised explosive devices, which cause a considerable part of casualties in he battlefield today. This problem is especially serious in the case of Afghanistan, therefore the Alliance pays special attention to the fight against these devices and their makers. The two Hungarian soldiers who fell in the Asian country also lost their lives in such detonations. The preparation for protection against explosive devices is coordinated by an integrated workgroup set up specifically for this purpose by the ACT in Norfolk. On the initiative of the integrated workgroup and under the professional supervision of the MoD’s Department for Operation and Training, since December 2008 the Hungarian Defence Forces have also participated in the preparatory events. In addition to Izmir in Turkey, Hochenfels in Germany, and Stavanger in Norway, the HDF Central Training Base is now also one of the central venues of anti-IED trainings. Besides the representatives of NATO member states and partner states, the representatives of the European Defence Agency and non-member countries participating in the Afghanistan mission have also attended the Szentendre conference – there were some 150 guests from 21 countries.

Like Gen. Abrial told honvedelem.hu, in the meetings with the Hungarian defence minister and the chief of the defence staff they have discussed the recent military reform in Hungary, the fields where our country could make progess, and Hungary’s expectations of the NATO and the ACT in these areas. "The relations between the ACT and Hungary are exemplary," said Gen.. Abrial. "We completely agree not only on the objectives but also on how we have to work together, and the efforts of Hungary to contribute to the transfomation of the NATO are enormous." In response to our question the general mentioned this week’s conference and its topic, the fight against IEDs, as examples, reminding us that some 70 per cent of allied casualties are caused by these devices.

“The MoD Military Medicine Centre of Excellence is another good example – it was established in Budapest as a result of Hungarian efforts. Even though here we can draw the conclusions of only two months, but the first experiences are encouraging," said the general. Multinational centres of excellence which are accredited by the NATO but are not subordinated to the allied commands try to solve problems which would be more difficult to perform in the NATO. Twenty centres of excellence have been offered to the NATO to date, of which thirteen centres have been accredited, including the one in Budapest. One of the responsibilities of the Military Medical Centre of Excellence is to identify niche capabilities the NATO cannot resolve or does not want to resolve due to capacity issues. Such capability might be the preparation of multinational medical teams for instance.

“In addition to this, there is the SAC program, in which Hungary also plays an important role," the general listed the examples. “This project has pointed out a number of factors within the Alliance we have to consider during the transformation process: it has shed light on the strenghts and reserves of the cooperation of the allies in which they share the burdens," said Stéphane Abrial. In response to our question about the most important challenges the ACT faces in 2010, the general said that the fight against IEDs is the first on their list. “Allied ministers expect us to make concrete and perceptible progress in this field in 2010," said the general.

Gen. Abrial said further tasks in the elaboration of the strategic concept of the NATO are also a top priority. To our question whether the principle of comprehensive approach means that the tasks of the ACT include the development and management of certain civil relations of the military alliance, Stéphane Abrial responded that this depends on the specific challenges as well, but in general we can say that there is no operation which can be successful based on military response alone. “Military solution is only one of the many parallel paths we have to follow, and these cannot exist without each other. What it means in practice is that we have to consult everyone who is involved in the operations in any way, for this is how we can successfully perform our duties."

About the experiences of Multiple Futures, the project supporting the new strategic concept from the military side and managed by the ACT, Gen. Abrial said that the most important conclusion is how well the NATO member states could cooperate within these frameworks. "The second one is that we should not try to predict the future, because no one can do that. What seems certain is that in the near future the Alliance will have to face challenges that are called hybrid threats in the new terminology. In short it means that while in the past we had to manage clear conflicts, currently the Alliance has to respond simultaneously to a number of parallel threats, including conflicts between states and factors resembling organized crime. One of the most important tasks of the NATO and the ACT is to guarantee these responses."