“Migration is endangering the security of Europe to the greatest extent”, Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI with relation to the fact that a summit of EU defence ministers will be held in Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

“Europe, and in it Hungary, has entered a new phase from the perspective of security policy. Europe’s security has significantly worsened, and it is not possible to provide routine responses to the new types of security problems”, the Minister explained. “Europe’s leaders must take the dangers that are threatening the security of the continent and the people of Europe seriously, the most serious of which is migration, with relation to which a change in direction is required as soon as possible”, he stressed.

According to Mr. Benkő, new challenges have appeared in the world, such as terrorism, migration and cyberwarfare, for which common responses must be provided in the interests of maintaining security.

At the summit, EU defence ministers are expected to review European defence initiatives, coherence between defence capability development projects, and their possible application in military operations.

Mr. Benkő also spoke about the Defence and Military Development Programme, within the framework of which the Hungarian Defence Force will be modernised through major development. “One of the guarantors of security is an army that has at its disposal modern equipment, and which is made up of highly trained and committed soldiers”, the Minister said. “We have begun this task with relation to the Hungarian Defence Force: through the establishment of a stronger Hungarian Defence Force, we are contributing to European defence cooperation, in addition to which we have an interest in a NATO alliance system that rests on solid foundations”, the Hungarian Defence Minister said.

(MTI)