The recent past has clearly demonstrated that military capabilities are also required in peacetime, Defence Minister Tibor Benkő stated after he received in his office Tamás Iván Kovács, Hungarian Ambassador to Brussels and Luxembourg on 31 August, Monday.

The main topics of the meeting included a review of bilateral relations and pending affairs such as the current status of the government reshuffle in Belgium, the Belgian party’s involvement in the training of the crew of H145M helicopters, and the visit of a Hungarian delegation to Belgium in connection with the reform of pilot training.

At the meeting, the Minister stressed that in September 2019, Hungary had reopened its Brussels attaché office after 10 years, and therefore the old-new attaché office in Brussels would also have to play a role in strengthening the international relations of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Military cooperation with the Belgian party is realised primarily within the framework of multilateral relations. At the same time, relations between the two countries are enhanced by Hungary’s EU and NATO membership, the Minister added.

Mr Benkő cited the Prime Minister who said that a strong Hungary cannot exist without a strong army. He highlighted that in this regard the Hungarian government had pledged to raise its defence budget to two per cent to GDP by 2024. The Minister also pointed out that already in 2018 we had reached the 20 per cent target percentage relating to equipment procurements within the defence budget, and had since exceeded it. Additionally, Hungary continues to maintain an outstanding mission contribution within the alliance.

The spread of the coronavirus epidemic had an impact not only on bilateral meetings, but equally on participation in exercises and courses. Based on the experiences of the epidemic situation, Hungary will make further efforts to enhance cooperation also in the field of European military health care.

The Ambassador and the Minister agreed that while Belgium and Hungary have disagreements on a number of issues concerning the future of Europe and migration, these cannot be allowed to constitute obstacles to the enhancement of bilateral trade and economic relations, in particular in light of the fact that the volume of bilateral trade has recently increased significantly.

The Defence Minister briefly informed the Ambassador about the further main directions of the Defence and Armed Forces Development Programme, observing that with these developments Hungary supports the reinforcement of independent European defence capabilities.

(MTI/Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)