Strong national defence force and strong NATO a guarantee of Hungary's security

Hungary continues to shoulder its share in the tasks and supports joint solutions, Hungary's defence minister stressed.

Brüsszel, 2023. június 16. Szalay-Bobrovniczky Kristóf honvédelmi miniszter (második sor, j2), valamint Boris Pistorius német védelmi miniszter (második sor, b), Jens Stoltenberg NATO-fõtitkár, Lloyd Austin amerikai, Ben Wallace brit és Yasar Güler török védelmi miniszter (elsõ sor, b-j) a NATO védelmi minisztereinek találkozóján a szervezet brüsszeli székházában az esemény második napján, 2023. június 16-án. MTI/AP/Virginia Mayo Fotó: Virginia Mayo

A strong national armed forces and a strong NATO are the guarantees for Hungary's security, Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said after the meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Friday, according to the statement forwarded to Hungary's state news agency (MTI).

The most important goal of the meeting in Brussels was to put the finishing touches to NATO's new draft strategy ahead of the July summit in Vilnius, Hungary's defence minister said.

He recalled that a year ago in Madrid, a decision was taken to strengthen NATO's eastern flank, and a new era began in deterrence and collective defence. Hungary performed well in related tasks, with the multinational taskforce stationed in its territory and the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre established in Szekesfehervar, in western Hungary, indicating the country's commitment to the alliance, he underlined.

Hungary continues to take its share in the tasks and supports joint solutions,

Hungary's defence minister highlighted, mentioning as an example efforts to strengthen the transatlantic and European defence industry base, which fall in line with the government's intention to reinforce Hungary's defence industry.

However, besides strengthening the eastern flank, threats from the south and other directions should not be overlooked,

he pointed out. As a country neighbouring war-torn Ukraine and due to the threats on its southern borders because of the Balkan migration route, Hungary must protect itself while performing joint defence tasks as a committed NATO ally, he added.

"It is in this spirit that we are participating with a significant - the third largest contingent - in NATO's KFOR mission in Kosovo," he said.

Speaking about Ukraine, Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky stressed that

Hungary's position remains unchanged and will not send lethal weapons to Ukraine. Hungary stands up for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks while helping Ukraine and those fleeing the war through implementing the largest humanitarian operation in its history.

Unfortunately, as no scenario can be ruled out, efforts must be made to reduce the risk of escalation, he noted regarding the war. 

"It's important that NATO continues to remain out of the conflict, but it must treat nuclear deterrence as a priority with all eventualities taken into account," he said.

Regarding the future relations between NATO and Ukraine, Hungary continues to support NATO's open door policy, however, in the case of a country at war, putting accession on the agenda is not possible,

he said. Finally, the minister added that he also took this opportunity as well to urge Ukraine to comply with the commitments it made for membership, especially with regard to the rights of national minorities.

NATO allies agree that Ukraine has come closer to membership in the last decade, and therefore the doors of our alliance are open to it, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday in Brussels. At the press conference closing the meeting of the defence ministers of the alliance, he emphasised that Ukraine itself will decide on membership, and Russia will not have the opportunity to prevent it.

"We don't know when this war will end, but as soon as it ends, we must create a framework that guarantees the security of Ukraine," he stressed.

The alliance is working on the creation of a formation called the NATO-Ukraine Council, where Ukraine and Allies will consult and decide on security issues on an equal basis. He added that at the upcoming summit in Vilnius, they would like to hold the first meeting of the new council with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

NATO member states are close to agreeing on a new common defence plan. "At the summit in Vilnius, we will take steps to further strengthen our deterrence and defences." For the first time since the Cold War, "we are fully connecting the planning for our collective defence with the planning for our forces, capabilities, and command and control”, he announced.

Mr Stoltenberg explained that the alliance's Nuclear Planning Group met to discuss the nuclear aspects of the current security environment and the continuous adaptation of NATO's nuclear deterrence.

He expressed concern that Russia plans to install nuclear weapons in Belarus, that Iran and North Korea continue their nuclear and missile development programs, and that China will not stop its nuclear developments either.

He pointed out that financial investment in common defence is "more crucial now than ever before" and expects NATO member states to spend more on defence.

Budgetary defence spending corresponding to two per cent of member states' GDP is no longer the ceiling, but the minimum limit, the  NATO secretary general stressed.

Cover image: Meeting of NATO defence ministers at the organization's headquarters in Brussels (Photo: MTI/AP/Virginia Mayo)