“The stability of the Western Balkans is a strategic priority for us”, Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő declared after receiving Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach for a courtesy visit on 10 July.

At the meeting, Mr. Benkő highlighted the fact that Hungary has been a significant contributor to peacekeeping missions in the Western Balkans for several decades, within the framework of which some two thirds of the Hungarian Defence Forces’ operational participation was provided by Hungarian soldiers serving in the region. “As a leading nation of the Tactical Reserve Battalion, Hungary is among the greatest contributors to KFOR”, the Minister emphasised.

“At June’s Global Force Generation Conference, Hungary confirmed its continued contribution, as well as its intention to take over the post of KFOR commander for a period of one year, beginning in November 2021”, he highlighted.

Another topic of the meeting were the commitments adopted at the summit of NATO heads of state and government in Wales, and Hungary’s National Defence and Armed Forces Development Program aimed at modernising the Hungarian Defence Forces. “Hungary’s defence spending will reach 2% of its gross national product by 2024”, the Minister highlighted. As he explained, based on increasing defence spending, the most ambitious and comprehensive military development program of recent decades is currently underway in Hungary.

“The establishment of the Multinational Division Command for Central Europe is moving forward according to plan”, Mr. Benkő underlined. “The Command began as a grass roots initiative on the part of Hungary and Croatia, with which the parties wished to reinforce NATO’s command and leadership capacity within the Central and Eastern European region”, he highlighted. As he explained, in peacetime the Command will be an engine for capacity development, interoperability, training and exercises, and crisis management, while its main task will be to contribute to the defence of the Alliance.

“The role of special operations in the handling of non-traditional security threats has gained importance in the recent period, and accordingly the establishment of a Special Operations Component Command has begun with the support of our regional partners (Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia and Austria), based on the decades of cooperation characteristic within the region”, the Minister of Defence noted.

In view of the extraordinary events of recent months, the Minister highlighted the fact that NATO has reacted successfully to the global pandemic. “New challenges always result in the development of new security protocols, and accordingly we welcomed the fact that the COVID operational plan adopted at the meeting of defence ministers in June is enabling us to also provide a collective response to new waves of the virus, if necessary”, Mr. Benkő highlighted.

(Ministry of Defence/MTI)