Budapest Hosts Initial Planning Conference of NATO’s Next Crisis Management Exercise

The Initial Planning Conference of NATO’s next top-level Crisis Management Exercise (CMX) was held at the Stefánia Palace from 11 to 13 November, with the participation of more than 150 professionals. Top-level delegations of experts and planners arrived from the NATO Headquarters Brussels, strategic commands and from member states.

Charlotte Hallengren, Director of Operations in the NATO International Staff, also highlighted at the opening event that in today’s security environment, NATO’s joint action is highly significant.

At the three-day meeting, participants examined the main objectives of the exercise and defined the main directions for planning and execution. As part of the program, Charlotte Hallengren had discussions about current security policy issues with Hungarian government officials, including Dr. Zsolt Kutnyánszky, MoD State Secretary for Force Development and Defence Policy, and Dr. Péter Sztáray, State Secretary for Security Policy and Energy Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The participants at the Alliance’s top-level decision-making exercises led by the NATO Secretary General include representatives of the North Atlantic Council and the member states, as well as their ministries and other central public administrative bodies involved in the task. The CMXs are command post exercises, which means that they are conducted without activities in training areas and troop movements.

The Initial Planning Conference was organised by the MoD Department for Defence Administration, at the request of the NATO Headquarters Brussels.