Hungarian Soldiers Can Join NATO Rapid Reaction Units

The Allied Response Force can be enlarged by 400 Hungarian fighters, and NATO's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Force by 100, but only if Hungary agrees to the operation.

Lithuanian and German soldiers during the Lithuanian-German NATO exercise Griffin Storm 2023 at the Pabrade training area, about 60 kilometers north of Vilnius, on June 26, 2023 (Photo: MTI/EPA/Valda Kalnina)

A NATO-related government decree appeared in the sizable Hungarian Gazette published on Thursday evening. The government allows for:

• a maximum of 400 members of the Hungarian Defense Forces to participate in the activities of the Allied Reaction Force (ARF) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and
• up to 100 personnel in the NATO Combined Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Task Force (CJ-CBRND-TF).

The deployment are to take place in Hungary and in NATO member states, and in addition, the Government allows for the participation of the offered Hungarian forces in operations decided by the North Atlantic Council, provided that Hungary agrees without reservations to the decision on the operation in question regarding the actual Hungarian military participation. The government decision will enter into force on Saturday.

Cover photo: Lithuanian and German soldiers during the Lithuanian-German NATO exercise Griffin Storm 2023 at the Pabrade training area, about 60 kilometers north of Vilnius, on June 26, 2023 (Photo: MTI/EPA/Valda Kalnina)