Slovak Chief of Defence Pays Official Visit to Hungary

On 14 June, Slovak Chief of Defence Gen. Milan Maxim arrived in Hungary for a two-day visit, heading a delegation, at the invitation of Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő. On the first day of the visit, the military delegations held a plenary session at the HDF Joint Force Command in Székesfehérvár, where they discussed current military affairs of the two countries.

The topics of discussion included cooperation in the framework of NATO’s Graduated Response Plans, as well as the current border security operations and peace support tasks of the Hungarian Defence Forces. In this connection, the Slovak partners were thanked for providing military support to the protection activities along the southern borders of Hungary. Further topics included several timely issues in defence cooperation, the Volunteer Reserve System, the forms of cooperation between the Special Operations Forces, and the future plans for the development of the two countries’ defence capabilities, alongside the relating challenges and opportunities.

In the field of defence cooperation, Hungary considers Slovakia a strategic partner, and as a strong signal of this– in the spirit of intensifying its military diplomatic activities –, it will open a military attaché office again in Bratislava in August 2017. Following the plenary talks, the delegations met the personnel of the NATO Force Integration Unit Hungary (NFIU HUN), and then visited the HDF Air Command and Control Centre. On the second day of the visit, Minister of Defence István Simicskó receives Gen. Milan Maxim on a courtesy call.

Photos by the author