NATO guarantees Europe’s security; however, the common defence organisation can only rely on the capabilities of the armies of nations, Defence Minister Dr Tibor Benkő stated on 28 August, Friday, after he received in his office Zoltán Nagy, Ambassador of the Permanent Delegation of Hungary to NATO.

After having rendered an account of current issues on NATO’s agenda, Mr Nagy also informed the Minister about the most important achievements of the period that has passed since the London meeting of heads of state and government.

He said the Alliance continues to fully honour its obligations, its defence and deterrence positions are valid, and its military preparedness and capabilities are unchanged. As a military alliance, it primarily fulfils a support function during the fight against the epidemic, the Ambassador added.

He highlighted that Hungary has recently achieved ever greater recognition within the Alliance in the areas of defence planning and defence policy, on the one hand, through its defence and armed forces development programme which is fully in line with NATO requirements and, on the other, through COMKFOR mission cooperation. Another major result is the integration into NATO’s system of the Multinational Division Command for Central and Eastern Europe (HQMNDC), an initiative of Hungary and Croatia.

The parties agreed that the Alliance must respond effectively to new types of challenges as well as to conventional challenges. Such new challenges include the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected all NATO Member States, and the Alliance must be able to respond in cooperation to its effects. They further agreed that during the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alliance proved that it is able to successfully adapt to the situation even in the case of the emergence of an unexpected challenge.

The Defence Minister stressed that Hungary as a participant of NATO and coalition operations contributes to creating and maintaining security in unstable regions. These operations also contribute to effective action against illegal migration and the threat of terrorism, and therefore at this time it is especially important to preserve the Alliance’s political and military unity and cohesion.

At the meeting, the Defence Minister confirmed that the pandemic would not override Hungary’s ambitions relating to the development of its armed forces and NATO undertakings. Hungary continues to remain committed to fulfilling NATO’s requirements, meaning that our defence budget will reach 2 per cent of GDP by 2024, at the latest. At the same time, the continued implementation of the Defence and Armed Forces Development Programme which firmly supports the attainment of NATO targets is also guaranteed.

(Ministry of Defence / MTI)