‘The Measure Will Be Who Does The Most For Joint Defence’

Mr József Bayer, Director of the Political Sciences Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA PTI) opened the all-day event at 9 o’clock in the morning. He started his address with the following: ‘All the analysts agree that there is a great need for a common foreign and security policy, but we are aware that this cannot be realized easily. The Union is not an independent state and this causes a difficulty. Still, the process of integration has brought some spectacular success in the fields of common market, peace and security. In other areas the sovereignty of individual states still exists. The adoption of best practice for instance and learning from each other can clearly be seen. Therefore the integration process, along which the division of Europe had ceased to exist, has created a new culture of cooperation. Nevertheless, the issue advances with difficulties; we are merely talking about a common but not uniform foreign policy. In addition to the former colonial empires – struggling with losing their status as great powers – there are also medium-sized powers and small states in the Union. There are several nations that bear the marks of various injuries caused by history and feel that even the slightest limitation of national sovereignty is a threat.’

Mr József Bayer cited Henry Kissinger’s sarcastic remark made at the time of the Balkans crisis and roughly sounded like this: ‘If I want to call Europe, who do I call?’ This question is still timely, said the director.

In the opinion of Mr Bayer, the global crisis reveals the opposing interests of member states and competition again, but in the long term it may even advance the issue of common foreign and security policy. ’In the field of energy policy and climate crisis joint action is needed. It is important that we realize that a number of new security policy dimensions have opened up that cannot be treated in the traditional way, such as the security of global information systems and networks, the stability of the financial system, and the problem of migration,’ he added.

The director further explained: for the Union, the path to follow is not the development of military force, that of ’hard power’, but rather the promotion of economic, technological and structural potential, in other words, the ’soft power’ effect has to be the priority issue. In his opinion this is not about joint defence efforts, which are necessary, of course, but it can be seen clearly that today even the military have to obtain civilian society building competences in order to be able to manage crises. He emphasized the importance of research and information exchange. ’For many, the world has become too confused and complex. A solution is needed to make it more simple. In the globally blending world there are no easy solutions, and the number of problems does not decrease. Thus it is necessary to continue research, establish knowledge bases, and operate expert networks.’

Ms Helga Schmid, the Director of the Policy Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union could not attend the conference, but Ms Tania von Uslar-Gleichen delivered a speech on her behalf about how Hungary prepares for the tasks of the coming EU presidency. She underlined: the accession of the ten new member states in 2004 was a very important event for former Socialist countries. ‘We must prepare for the unexpected,’ she emphasized, adding that during the era of Cold War territorial defence was a priority and since then the frameworks of foreign and security policy had adapted to geopolitical changes and new elements had been added to them, such as the agreement on weapons of mass destruction, the anti-terrorism strategy, measures taken to combat piracy, and the dangers of drug traffic.

‘By the 21st century, globalization has arrived. Governments alone are not able to cope with the tasks. The aim is not to treat the symptoms, we have to move on from traditional diplomacy and military means alike and focus on strengthening constitutionality,’ the representative of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union said, according to whom the Treaty of Lisbon makes it possible for us to act coherently and the available funds allow it as well, but there are problems: for instance there is not a proper air transport infrastructure. She emphasized: the Eastern Partnership program will be launched next year, with the first station being Prague on 7 May. She added: the North Atlantic relations are also promoted, a number of other partnerships are being created, and she also considers the relations with Russia an important issue.

Mr Heinrich Brauss, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Policy and Planning also delivered an address at the conference, saying that NATO focuses on the military approach. ’Three weeks ago, at the NATO summit the leaders had strengthened the security alliance. The elaboration of a new concept has started, which may bring results by 2011. We did not see the 2001 attack or the conflict in Georgia in advance. The cyber attack that happened in Estonia two years ago (in May 2007 the servers of various Estonian institutions, such as the servers of SEB Eesti Uhisbank, the second largest bank in the country, suffered massive cyber assaults – editor’s note) was also a novelty, we were not prepared for that either – this case proves that the collapse of energy supply could entail dramatic consequences without any military intervention being made. Recently an intelligence unit and a base of regional expertise have been created, with the assignment of the latter ending in 2025.’

Mr Brauss also underlined the difficult relationship of the NATO and Russia, mentioned the intervention in Georgia, the problems of the relations between Turkey and the EU, the presence in Afghanistan, and added to this: the Union must operate on the basis of autonomy. ‘The Alliance has 2.3 million troops of which 1.5 million can be deployed immediately. There are issues with the reserves, improper equipments and quality. The airlift system is poor and there are not enough helicopters.’ Finally he noted: with the C-17 Globemasters, Hungary undertakes a very active role in the transport options of the mission.

Mr Gábor Szent-Iványi, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the traditional security policy challenges instead of the new ones. ’The biggest danger is unstable neighbourhood,’ he said. ’The consolidation of Europe has to continue, this is the backbone of security. Security and stability can be achieved by gradually expanding the Euro-Atlantic organizations to countries that are able to identify with common values and fulfil the requirements,’ he added. ’After 1989 and 1990, two processes have begun in the countries that had started out on the road to European development – the integration to NATO and the EU. We realized that the EU accession is a complicated and difficult process full of tears, where tough tasks have to be completed. The accession to NATO was more simple. In the case of the West Balkans joining NATO will be a relatively faster process and Albania is a very good example of that since it is quite far from EU accession but a few weeks ago the country has become a NATO member state.’

According to the state secretary the openness of the Union has to be retained, conditionality has to be maintained, and the enlargement process has to be transparent; the EU summit launching the Eastern Partnership will be held on 7 May, under the Czech presidency. ’Naturally, we do not want to alienate Russia with this, we would like them to participate in as many projects as possible. The other important question is the integration of the West Balkans, which is one of the key priorities of the presidencies of the Visegrad Four,’ said Mr Szent-Iványi. As regards the West Balkans Gábor Szent-Iványi said: ’It is important to preserve the credibility of the integration process. Its European perspective is not questioned but tangible results are needed both in our relations and the region’s own internal policy, for the sake of their own voters. The most obvious tangible result can be the liberalization of visas.’ The state secretary mentioned positive examples, highlighting the Euro-Atlantic integration and NATO membership of Croatia and Albania. ’It is important that the current reform and integration-oriented policy of Serbia subsists,’ he said.

‘The stability of Kosovo is a further challenge and it is a key problem of the Euro-Atlantic region at the moment, but it is already on the road to solution. Here NATO’s KFOR mission has to continue as well. It is highly important that Bosnia and Herzegovina proceeded along the right guidelines and the Union plays a key role in that. We expect the debate with Greece over the name of the country (Macedonia appealed to the court of the United Nations because in their opinion Greece violated the agreement that was concluded by the two countries in 1995. In this agreement Greece had committed itself not to block the accession of Macedonia to international organizations, provided the country uses the name ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’. In spite of that, at the April NATO summit Athens vetoed the accession of Macedonia to the military organization – editor’s note) will also be settled and the aforementioned Eastern Partnership program is important, too. We support the efforts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to get closer to NATO.’

The state secretary closed his speech with the following sentences: ‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs highly appreciates the contribution of the Hungarian Defence Forces: today Hungarian peacekeepers have a considerable military and civilian component stationed in the West Balkans. We are present in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina with 625 troops, which is more than half the Hungarian troops on duty abroad. In addition to that, the largest civilian mission within the framework of EULEX is stationed in Kosovo, represented by 50 persons.’

Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres explained in his address: ’In terms of development and guaranteeing, strengthening the security of the country, Hungary’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance had a historical significance. The fact that in a few days it will be the fifth anniversary of our country’s accession to the European Union is just as important. Both events have an historical significance and are inseparable from each other.’

The minister said: ’For every member state, security is of primary value and interest. The common foreign and security policy and defence policy of NATO and the Union serve this purpose. The key to success on the one hand is the commitment of the member states and their willingness to reach a compromise. By promoting, preparing and creating the compromise between member states we can do the most during the period of our presidency in 2011.’ He added: ’As a result of the compromises to date a major change has happened, for the defence policy the outlines of which can be clearly seen already, contributes to the security of the whole European continent. The agreement between France and the UK and the accession of Germany is the engine that had effectively started this process ten years ago. In 2003, the strategy of the European Commission was concluded, clearly stating that the European Union would like to be a global participant in crisis management. Of course, the agreement of the member states was also necessary to that. Since 2003, the European Union has completed twenty civilian or military crisis management operations, which clearly proves the commitment of the member states.’

The minister also spoke about the conditions of this: ‘It was a condition that civilian and military equipments would be used in a coordinated way. Military and civilian crisis management capabilities are also necessary, and the Lisbon Treaty is a key issue as well: Hungary was among the first countries to ratify this treaty, having realized that security is a key asset. The adoption of the treaty sets clear guidelines towards deeper integration, therefore European defence integration will exceed the current state.’

In the opinion of Imre Szekeres the aim and the set of requirements is not to weigh how many percent of the gross domestic product of a country is spent on its own defence but to what extent and how they participate in multinational programs and their implementation, how often and on what standard they do it. ’The measure will be who does the most for the realization of joint defence,’ he said. The Lisbon Treaty stipulates that in case a member state is subject to an external armed attack the other member states provide assistance. ’This is also a considerable change,’ said Imre Szekeres, then added: ’This does not concern the commitments made in the North Atlantic Allliance because for its members, the basis of collective defence is still the NATO.’

In cooperation with other ministries, the Ministry of Defence plans that during the presidency, it will endeavour to sustain transparency, continuity and consensus building. ‘We would like to rely on the expertise of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union to the maximum extent and want to coordinate the implementation of our program with the European Commission and the Parliament.’ According to Imre Szekeres the judgement of a member state is influenced by the operations since this is the area the public is interested in the most and at the same time this is also the greatest challenge. ‘At the moment there are more than ten military operations and civilian missions in progress on three continents, and these are manifold: we are talking about military crisis management, peace agreements, the surveillance of border crossing points, supporting security and order, and police missions. Therefore civilian-military coordination is also important. The main emphasis is on the harmonization of these two components and on the civilian sector,’ the minister said.

He underlined: ‘We also pay special attention to the EU’s tasks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently there is a 144-strong company stationed in the region in the framework of this operation. Following the transformation, we want to make a major contribution to the operation that is planned to be 200-strong.’ The minister told the attendees that the Ministry of Defence compiled a draft for the period up to 2015 about how the military could participate in the implementation of international tasks. ‘We envisage that as of 2011, Hungarian troops will probably be needed in operations in Africa as well. As an EU member state, we are getting prepared to participate in the solution of the problems in Africa. We have already started the trainings, for this military preparation means high standard tasks for both the general staff and those who take part in this activity,’ he added. In the opinion of Imre Szekeres there are certain experiences that can be utilized and there are some the country still needs to gain, for instance EU experiences and naval experiences off the coast of Somalia. ‘Piracy is a strong and extensive form of organized crime, with a major logistics background and employing a great number of gunmen; the experiences gained in the course of combating it can be utilized in counter-terrorism operations,’ the minister said.

‘The linear military capacity development process is underway at the moment and it will end in 2010. When reaching its final point, we will have to be prepared for the new direction. Obviously, this will mean an intellectual challenge as well, but also entails an opportunity: it will allow us that when setting the next direction, the military and civilian capacity development processes that are being run parallel at the moment, can be harmonized. The presidency will create an opportunity for the harmonization of the next capacity development program with the civilian capacity development processes. Launching the synchronization process between the EU and NATO is at least as important. Thus the Hungarian military have to be capable of fulfilling the defence tasks of the country, implementing NATO’s collective defence tasks, and participating in the crisis management operations of the EU and the NATO,’ Imre Szekeres said.

In his address, the head of the portfolio specifically mentioned the importance of the European Defence Agency (EDA), the strategic partnership of the UN and the EU, their cooperation in crisis management, and the requirements of the North Atlantic Alliance; finally he told the audience that the preparation processes for the presidency have already begun. ‘We are in the highly intensive period of preparation, the presidency staff have been selected, the trainings and professional preparation courses have started. Certain priorities have been identified, the compilation and preparation of the programs have started. After the final modifications, we will introduce the complete material to the Council in November.’

In the second, afternoon part of the conference there were two roundtable discussions. The hosts of the foreign policy roundtable discussion were Mr Zsolt Németh (Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union), Mr István Szent-Iványi (Alliance of Free Democrats) and Mr Csaba Tabajdi (Hungarian Socialist Party), who were talking about the structure of the trio, Latin America, the Eastern Partnership, human rights, energy security, climate policy, and the fight against terrorism. Mr István Szent-Iványi emphasized that in his opinion, the biggest challenge is ‘inside’: ‘National selfishness coming into the forefront and the lack of a common standpoint are the most serious problems’. Mr Csaba Tabajdi added: ‘Hungary is not prepared for the presidency yet, we have to create an intellectual capacity for that.’ The participants of the last roundtable discussion of experts were Ms Zsuzsanna Dömény (MTA PTI), Mr Béla Galló (MTA PTI), Mr Zoltán Sz. Bíró (MTA), and Mr András György Deák (Hungarian Institute of International Affairs). The experts agreed that Hungarian politics have to act on the basis of the same principles in 2011.