United States Congress to Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Partnership Between the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Ohio National Guard

Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2013. március 18. 15:32

The US Congress will mark the 20th anniversary of the State Partnership Program between the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Ohio National Guard in May, Tamás Vargha the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence told Hungarian News Agency MTI in Washington on Thursday, March 14.

Minister of Defence Csaba Hende will also attend the anniversary celebrations to be held in
the US capital and Ohio, said the State Secretary, who met with several members of Congress
on the same day in Ohio. Tamás Vargha also held discussions with Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense Elissa Slotkin in the Pentagon, where he told her that the mandate of
the Hungarian PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) would expire in Afghanistan in March,
but based on its last year’s commitment, Hungary would carry on with providing the force
protection contingent at the Kabul International Airport until December 31, and the Hungarian
Special Forces unit would also continue its mission in the country as well.

The State Secretary said that Hungary would be ready to continue its role in Afghanistan
after the end of the NATO mission in 2014. The two sides have not yet discussed any
concrete details because the final concept of the US military presence has not been approved
in Washington. The successful State Partnership Program between the Hungarian Defence
Forces and the Ohio National Guard was also among the topics of the discussions.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Slotkin expressed the United States’ appreciation for
Hungary’s delivering a performance beyond strength in international military missions and
for the excellent job done by the Hungarian troops. She expressed her joy over the fact that
Hungary is one of the few NATO member states that do not reduce their military budget but
rather have undertaken to keep it on the same level at nominal value for three years.

Tamás Vargha stressed that the Hungarian Defence Forces were working to make sure
that the available sum can be spent rationally to achieve the best possible goals. He added
that the Hungarian Defence Forces would also deploy a 10-strong team to Mali to work in the
fields of training and health care.

Elissa Slotkin spoke highly of Hungary’s willingness to protect common values in a mission
which is not being led by the United States or NATO but by France. The two sides agreed that
it is important to prevent the Islamist extremists from gaining ground in Mali because that
would pose a serious threat to Europe.

On Friday, Tamás Vargha laid a wreath by Lajos Kossuth’s bust in the US Congress.