Hungarian-Serbian joint government meeting in Budapest
Text: Ministry of Defence | Photo: Prime Minister’s Office | 12:48 September 9, 2021On 7 September Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić and her governmental delegation paying an official visit to Hungary in the framework of the sixth Hungarian–Serbian joint government session in Budapest. At the two-day government meeting, Defence Minister Dr. Tibor Benkő held official bilateral discussions with his Serbian counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Dr. Nebojša Stefanović, and also with Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Darija Kisić Tepavčević.
Following the discussions, Defence Minister Dr. Tibor Benkő said that strengthening the security of the Western Balkans is a top priority for Hungary. To maintain regional stability, Hungary has been supporting the Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries of this region since the beginnings, so it attaches great significance to the fact that a Hungarian general, Maj. Gen. Ferenc Kajári is to take over the command of NATO-led KFOR as of 15 October.
The minister told the press that he had conducted successful discussions with the Serbian minister of defence. He pointed out that significant progress has been made in the field of Serbian–Hungarian military-to-military relations over the last few years, the intensity of relations between the two states exceeds all previous extent, and the relations between the ministries of defence and the armed forces are excellent. The significant involvement of the two countries in the migration crisis has also contributed to deepening the cooperation, which has since been intensive in this field. Dr. Tibor Benkő added that the defence industrial cooperation has further opportunities as well. The two sides aim at continuing to sustain regular dialogue between their ministries of defence and cooperation between their armed forces.
On the Hungarian side, another important and open issue concerns the conclusion of an intergovernmental agreement on war grave care as soon as possible, as it has been dragging on for years and got stuck in the recent period due to the pandemic-related excessive workload on the competent Serbian Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy. Among other topics, the Hungarian minister of defence held bilateral discussions with Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Darija Kisić Tepavčević on the support for furthering the agreement and the future cooperation opportunities.
