A new chapter begins in U.S.–Hungary defence cooperation

After the meeting, in an interview to public media, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that the Friday meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and U.S. President Donald Trump at once opens up the possibility for further defence industrial cooperation and defence procurements, and allows for a very wide range of cooperation in space industry as well. Speaking about the tone of discussions held in the Pentagon, he said that he had experienced a reception given in a “friendly and very different atmosphere”.

As the minister said, “gone with the wind” are the times when the previous U.S. administration took action against certain steps of Hungarian military development, even to hinder it. The Hungarian minister of defence called the nature of relations “proactive”, saying that they are built on a partnership between two allies that think similarly about interests and values, and have the same interests concerning the peace in Ukraine, despite the big difference in the size of the two countries.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky emphasized that a wide range of negotiations will start in the future to implement the issues discussed at the meeting in practice, and these negotiations will determine “the precise equipment systems and defence industrial possibilities of Hungary within the expanding scope of Hungarian–American relations”.

He added that the topics of discussion at the meeting included the American expectation towards European allies and Europe that they must act and take steps in the interest of their own defence. In the course of its own military development program, Hungary is doing a lot in fulfilling this American expectation towards Europe – noted the minister of defence in Washington.