Minister of Defence István Simicskó has arrived in the United States of America for a four-day working visit.

On Tuesday, 11 October – the first day of his official visit –, the minister of defence held a discussion at the NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) with Admiral Manfred Nielson, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.

At the meeting, Mr. Simicskó stated that “As a committed ally, we continue to give importance to developing close transatlantic relations. On our part, we will take all the necessary steps to achieve this goal. We are going to increase our defence budget by 0.1 per cent of the GDP every year between 2016 and 2026, so it will approximate two per cent of the GDP”.

The minister of defence pointed out that there are two priorities for the directions of capability development in the Hungarian Defence Forces, namely the retention and enhancement of national capabilities and meeting the NATO capability targets. In a new cycle of its Defence Planning Process, NATO expects the allies to provide well-trained forces and a higher level of readiness. Hungary is prepared to meet these goals, whose implementation presents us with a significant challenge, even with the increased defence budget.

While in Norfolk, the minister of defence met the Hungarian personnel serving at the ACT, and was introduced to their professional work on the spot. During the meeting, it was noted that Hungary is going to organize the NATO Transformation Seminar in March 2017, which will be attended by the top leaders of the Alliance as well.

As part of his official program, on Wednesday, 12 October Mr. Simicskó gave an opening speech during a 1956 symposium held at the National Defense University in Washington, and, at the Pentagon, together with US Ambassador to Budapest Colleen Bell, opened an exhibition of the Hungarian freedom fight of 1956.

(Ministry of Defence)