On Tuesday at the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary continues to be committed to the stability of Afghanistan; therefore the country will not withdraw its soldiers from the region and will contribute with 500 thousand dollars annually to NATO’s Afghanistan mission.

The more stable Afghanistan is, the fewer migrants will leave the region for Europe. Also, Hungary continues to provide as much assistance as possible to NATO’s Afghanistan mission in the future in order to maintain the country’s stability and to prevent potential migration flows to Europe, the Minister added.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, the ministers agreed that the previously identified withdrawal schedule from Afghanistan is unsustainable because the political situation is still unstable in the region. The withdrawal would render unpredictable repercussions in terms of the increasing migration wave Europe would have to face.

Therefore, the ministers decided that NATO would maintain its Afghanistan mission at least until 2016. Regarding the issue, Hungary is committed to maintaining its support for Afghanistan’s stability and it will continue to station 113 troops there and contribute with half a million US dollars a year to the costs of the NATO mission in the coming two years.

Hungary is prepared to extend its contribution in the following years, if necessary, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Minister also explained that the participants of the meeting intend to examine how NATO could get involved in operations against the Islamic State terrorist organisation and create stability in the Middle East and North Africa.

One of the possible solutions would be to strengthen the defence capabilities of important partner countries for the political stabilization and security of the region, the Minister said.

He added: Hungary is contributing to the defense capability building mechanism by organising bomb demolition training courses for the Jordanian army.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)