Hungary is an Active and Reliable Member of NATO

After his discussions with the minister of defence and the chief of defence, Gen. Pavel told us that they had discussed current issues in security policy at the meeting. He said that Hungary is an active and reliable member of the Alliance and, in spite of the domestic burdens entailed by the migration crisis, it sticks to its NATO commitments such as its presence in foreign missions in Afghanistan and the Balkans and the conduct of international or national exercises. Also, Hungary has reliably contributed to the implementation of NATO’s Readiness Action Plan, as our country was among the first to host a NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) and is participating in tasks such as the Baltic Air Policing mission.

The general told us that the minister of defence has informed him in detail about the border security measures taken in Hungary. Although the participation of 6000 soldiers in border security tasks affects the everyday life of the Hungarian Defence Forces, Mr. Simicskó assured him that our country continues to meet all its commitments in the Alliance. Gen. Pavel said that during the discussions, he received a comprehensive picture of the background to the domestic measures, so that now he will be able to present them in more detail to other member states. In answer to our question, he said that in response to the migration crisis, NATO has reinforced its presence on the Mediterranean Sea, but the recently emerging serious problems can primarily be solved in the scope of the European Union and the individual nations. In his opinion, besides symptomatic treatment, the crisis must be dealt with on a local level at the hot spots, by reinforcing and developing local police and military forces and coast guards, and by eliminating instability in the Middle East and North Africa.

The topics of the discussion also included the relations between NATO and the European Union in light of the recently held summit in Bratislava. The participants of the meeting agreed that Europe must place greater emphasis on its own security, and must increase its effectiveness in close cooperation with NATO, because there is no need for creating parallel or rival capabilities. In answer to our question, the general told us that recently some positive trends can be noticed regarding the increase of defence budgets in European NATO member states, which already point in the right direction, but these countries still have a long way to go in this field. As he noted, instead of the statistics and the GDP-share percentages, the primary focus in this field should be on real capability building in the individual member states through precisely identifying shortfalls and addressing them, and fitting the capabilities in the system of NATO.

Petr Pavel also told us that the Alliance has no scripts for the US presidential election, and if the results bring some changes in the life of the Alliance, NATO will adapt to them. He added that the statements from Republic candidate Donald Trump about the Alliance and its future are a kind of wake-up call, because the member states must realize again that they cannot build their security solely on the capabilities of the United States, notwithstanding the fact that the US military is the most powerful and largest force in the Alliance. He pointed out that the upcoming elections in France and Germany next year will also have great significance.

Speaking about the future establishment of a possible single European army, the general said that in his opinion, presently we are still far from that, and for the time being it is hard to imagine that all member states will be willing to accept that their defence policy falls within the scope of the European Union. The European Union already has rapid reaction forces, namely the EU Battlegroups, but the community has not yet deployed them in real-world situations. Petr Pavel was of the opinion that instead of setting up a large EU army, a quick solution would be to strengthen the already existing capabilities and their deployability.

Photos: Veronika Dévényi
Cover photo: nato.int