The document on Hungarian-Polish special operations cooperation was signed on Monday, 24 February by Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő and Polish National Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak.

“A long-term cooperation is being established with a partner that is important to Hungary”, Tibor Benkő said with relation to the agreement. Within the framework of the agreement, the Polish party will regard Hungary as a strategic partner with relation to contributing to NATO special forces operations.

During the meeting, the two ministers discussed the opportunities inherent within Hungarian-Polish special operations cooperation, as well as regional cooperation between European territorial defence forces. Mr. Benkő emphasised that cooperation between the two countries has also been reinforced within this field. Current defence policy issues will be discussed in Budapest in the near future at the European Territorial Defence Regional Cooperation Initiative Conference.

According to plan, the representatives of the two countries will in future regularly share their experiences with relation to application opportunities for reserve military forces organised on a principle of territorial defence.

“Hungary’s interest continues to be that Poland should regard Visegrád Group (V4) cooperation as the main framework for regional cooperation”, the Hungarian Defence Minister declared. Polish Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak told reporters: “V4 cooperation between Poland and Hungary is further improving our already excellent military cooperation. Within this spirit, we wish to maintain cooperation between territorial defence forces, with special emphasis on education, training, military exercises, maintaining military graves, and not least curbing migration”. “Hungary regards it as important to further develop the capabilities of the V4 Joint Logistics Support Group Headquarters and the V4’s EU Battle Group in future”, Mr. Benkő stressed. “Increasing EU-NATO cooperation is also one of Hungary’s top priorities”, the Minister said.

“Handling illegal migration remains one of the central issues with relation to Hungary’s security, and we must also not forget about taking decisive action against the terrorism that goes hand-in-hand with it”, he declared. “The stability of the Middle Eastern region is important to Hungary, and our fundamental principle is indeed that the conflicts of other continents and regions must be handled where they arise”, he added. At the meeting, the Hungarian Defence Minister highlighted the fact that Hungary’s standpoint continues to be that the EU’s global capacity must be increased in the interests of enabling it to react effectively against further waves of migration.

Following the meeting, Tibor Benkő visited Skierniewice, where he placed a wreath at the memorial to the Hungarian nation to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw. In 1920, a shipment of Hungarian arms and ammunition that contributed significantly to enabling Poland to defend the independence it had won at the end of the First World War was unloaded at this settlement.

An exhibition relating to Hungary’s provision of assistance in 1920 will also be opened at the Ministry of Defence Institution and Museum of Military History in Budapest on 20 March, the Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship.

(MTI)