Defense Minister: Hungary Committed to Visegrad Group

Hungary supports EU enlargement into Western Balkans.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky Kristóf bizottsági meghallgatása Fotó: Balogh Zoltán

Hungary is committed to Visegrad Group (V4) cooperation and supports the accession of Western Balkan countries to the European Union, Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in Prague on Friday.

Our negotiations have shown that despite periodic differences of opinion, we agree on the significant issues,

Hungary's minister of defense told journalists at a joint press conference with his Czech counterpart Jana Cernochova. "The security of Central Europe is inseparable from that in the Western Balkans, which is why the Hungarian CEDC Presidency program places great emphasis on further broadening high-level dialogue and hands-on cooperation between the two blocs of countries, as well as on pushing for European integration of the Western Balkan states," he said.

"Hungary's position remains unchanged. Since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Hungary has been in favor of peace, ceasefire and negotiations, as we believe that there is no military solution and the European Union should also rethink its strategy regarding Ukraine," Minister Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.

We have confirmed the strengthening and continuation of V4 cooperation in the field of defense policy,

Jana Cernochova presented the eight-point joint declaration adopted by the four Visegrad defense ministers at their meeting in Prague. 

In the document, the V4 Group condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine and also described the terrorist attack on Israel by the Palestinian radical organization Hamas as unacceptable.

The two-day meeting of the Czech, Polish, Hungarian and Slovak defense ministers was convened by Jana Cernochova, head of the Czech Defense Ministry, to mark the current Czech presidency of the Visegrad Four Group. The V4 bloc was joined on the second day by representatives of the Central European Defense Cooperation (CEDC) and Western Balkan countries.

Cover photo: Minister of Defense Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky (Photo: MTI/Zoltan Balogh )