Defence policy directors meet in London

The issues high the agenda of the meeting were the Russo-Ukrainian War, the topicalities of NATO, as well as the bilateral defence relations.

In accordance with a Statement of Intent signed in 2019, and the bilateral cooperation plan that has been worked out in line with this document – among others – the meetings on the level of British and Hungarian defence policy directors are organized on a regular basis. The security situation due to the Russo-Ukrainian War and its impact on the whole of Europe gave a particularly great emphasis to the meeting. Accordingly, its topics included the discussion of the scope for cooperation in dealing with the current security situation.

The topics related to commitments arising from membership in NATO, the joint responses to threats and the strengthening bilateral relations continue to have priority in shaping the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. For this reason, the directors addressed those strategically important issues which have great emphasis in the light of the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.

The defence policy directors also discussed the topicalities of the armed forces development program, and agreed that sharing the lessons learned in this field on expert level may also form part of the expanding cooperation.

On the margins of the discussions, the defence policy directors signed a statement of intent which further deepens the already close bilateral cooperation between the two nations, and creates an opportunity to identify further areas of cooperation.

On the second day of the visit, the Hungarian delegation visited the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), an independent research group which is the United Kingdom’s leading defence and security think tank.