Hungarian–Polish Friendship Reinvigorated
Szöveg: hm.gov.hu | 2010. szeptember 21. 11:50After a gap of 12 years a Hungarian–Polish defence ministerial meeting was held in Budapest on September 17. Among others, issues in bilateral military cooperation and the common security and defence policy of the Central Eastern European nations were top of the agenda at the talks.
Hungarian Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende and Polish Minister of Defence Bogdan Klich held a joint press conference in Budapest on September 17 after the meeting, where they said they had conducted the discussions in a really friendly atmosphere. Initiated by the Hungarian Defence Minister, the talks focused on the current state of bilateral military cooperation in general and a preparation of a related MoU as well as the ways of ensuring coordination between the states of Central Eastern Europe with respect to a common security and defence policy.
Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende said it was regrettable that over the last 12 years no one-to-one negotiations had been conducted between the defence ministers of these two friendly nations with a 1,000-year common history. The leadership of the Hungarian Ministry of Defence intends to establish closer relations, which has been the aim of the present meeting too. The Hungarian–Polish military-to-military relations are already balanced, harmonious and serve the interests of both countries. The talks revealed that both states have converging visions for the future role of NATO and the European Union.
Bogdan Klich added that the upcoming Hungarian EU presidency and the subsequent Polish one will provide the two countries with a good opportunity to shape Europe’s future and the common security and defence policy (CSDP) through coordination. He stressed that Hungary and Poland are not “new members" but rather experienced and powerful states.
Dr. Csaba Hende said that the discussions on mission-specific training and task execution, training for the troops, consultations between the two air forces and military historical as well as tradition preserving activities were among the high priority areas for future cooperation. In regard to tradition preserving functions, it was noted that around 40,000 Hungarian soldiers had fallen in battles during WWI and WWII in Poland, whereas there are several hundred Polish war graves in Hungary which require proper care in the future as well.
Text: Zsolt Németh
Photo: László Tóth
