Historic Meeting of Defence Ministers in Saudi Arabia

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky told us that Saudi Arabia is a regional actor of strategic importance and in the field of energy security, it has a decisive role on a global level, too. Also, Hungary regards the Gulf kingdom as a responsible actor and stabilising force. The minister added that the meeting had an outstanding significance as Saudi Arabia and Hungary celebrate the 30th anniversary of the beginning of their diplomatic relations this year.

“At the meeting with His Highness Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia, we discussed the possibilities for improving the defence relations between the two countries, and reinforced our commitment to creating stable foundations for the defence partnership.” The minister pointed out that the possible fields of future military-to-military and bilateral defence cooperation were at the centre of the discussions.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky emphasised that Saudi Arabia and Hungary are on a similar platform regarding the defence of sovereignty, strengthening traditional social bases and counter-terrorist action. He added that both Riyadh and Budapest consider armed forces development and the maintenance of security policy dialogue strategically important.

During the visit to Saudi Arabia, the defence minister also had a discussion with Thamer AlMuhid, the CEO of Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), about the possibilities for defence innovation cooperation between the two countries.