Minster of Defence Tibor Benkő held talks on current defence policy issues and cooperation opportunities involving the defence sectors of the two countries with Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultquist in Stockholm on Wednesday, 19 February. The date of the meeting is important with relation to our bilateral relations in view of the fact that on this same day exactly one hundred years ago in Sweden, Hungarian Ambassador György Barcza presented the note verbale initiating the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Sweden has been one of Hungary’s important military development partners for years. According to Mr. Benkő, in addition to the existing cooperation between the two countries, Hungarian military development could also profit greatly from the acquisition of the Carl Gustaf M4 multi-target anti-tank weapons system and the mobile maintenance hangars manufactured by SAAB. “The training of helicopter instructors under extreme conditions and the maintenance of air refuelling capability are also important elements of Swedish-Hungarian cooperation”, the Minister added.

“One of the cornerstones of military cooperation is the Gripen lease agreement that Hungary signed back in 2001”, Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő declared following his meeting with the Swedish Defence Minister. “This is a constructive agreement that is extremely important with relation to the military development of the Hungarian Defence Force, and accordingly at the meeting we reviewed the opportunities for post-2026: the operation of the Gripens and opportunities for technical and professional support”, the Minister told reporters.

Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultquist highlighted the fact that it is particularly important for Sweden to develop suitable relations with NATO and its member states, including Hungary. Sweden currently actively supports NATO military security efforts in Europe’s northern region, within the framework of which Sweden is participating in the air defence of the Baltic countries as one of the operation’s main supporters.

The parties agreed that a militarily effective European Union reinforces NATO without destabilising the security screen provided by NATO. According to Mr. Benkő, Hungary’s position remains absolutely clear: “We support the reinforcement of cooperation between the two institutions. The Hungarian government regards the conduction of joint and coordinated exercises, and the capability development opportunities that arise from cooperation, as extremely important”.

At the meeting, the Minister of Defence confirmed that Hungary’s position remains unchanged with relation to the handling of the migration crisis: “Hungary is protecting the external borders of Europe, and instead of the mandatory distribution of migrants can at the most support an expatriation quota”. “The consensus in Europe concerning the fact that crises must be handled in the place they come about is continuously gaining strength. Accordingly, we support European initiatives aimed at providing assistance to countries in need. The Hungarian Defence Force is currently taking part in peacekeeping missions in Europe, Asia and Africa with some one thousand soldiers.”, the Minister said.

It was stated at the meeting that both countries regard action against new types of challenges (cyber and hybrid warfare) as extremely important. “In the spirit of this, together with Sweden we are members of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. In addition, Hungary is also taking part in the work of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence and the NATO Strategic Communications (StratCom) Centre of Excellence, with Sweden also an active partner in the former. The Cyber Defence Monitoring Unit established by the Hungarian Defence Force Command and the training, monitoring and research centres that fall under its sphere of competence represent Hungarian added value with relation to international efforts”, he declared.

The compulsory military service in effect according to current Swedish law and forms of service that may be undertaken voluntarily were also touched upon at the meeting.

In the interests of continued negotiation, Mr. Benkő invited his Swedish counterpart to visit Hungary, and Mr. Hultquist’s indicated that he will be making use of this opportunity in the first months of 2021.

(MTI)