Hungary is actively participating in strengthening NATO’s eastern flank

In the spirit of preparing the NATO Hague Summit, heads of state and government of the allies located on NATO’s eastern flank, namely the Bucharest Nine (B9 – Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia) and the Nordic Allies (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) recently held a summit. Hungary was represented at the event by Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, on behalf of President of Hungary Tamás Sulyok.

The minister said that the issue of the Russo-Ukrainian War was a central topic on the agenda of the event. In this connection, he made it clear to the participating allies that “We must refrain from taking any step that may hinder the success of American peace efforts or become a factor in the further escalation of the conflict”.

Other topics of the summit were regional security, strengthening NATO’s eastern flank and increasing the defence spending. Since the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the countries situated on NATO’s eastern flank have been carrying the especially heavy burden of reinforcing their defence in response to the threat emerging from the east.

The minister of defence said that the efforts Hungary is making as a credible ally contributing to Alliance activity are serious and outstanding as compared with its size and possibilities. The minister underlined that Hungary had already met the 2% GDP defence spending guideline already in 2023, one year earlier than the target date. He added that the multinational Forward Land Force Battle Group (FLF BG) stationed in Hungary is led by a Hungarian commander, and that we established the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre (HQ MND-C) in Székesfehérvár with Hungary as the lead nation, in cooperation with Slovakia and Croatia.

He also noted that Slovakia’s airspace is safeguarded by Hungarian fighter aircraft, and from this August onward, Hungarian Gripens will join the Baltic Air Policing program again. The minister pointed out that thanks to our military development program that was launched in 2016 and has since gathered momentum, we have such capabilities which are a significant contribution not only to the defence of Hungary but also to that of our Alliance system. Besides focusing on the eastern direction, we must not forget about the southern direction as well – highlighted the minister.

He pointed out that Hungary welcomes the efforts made to strengthen the defence of Europe gathering new momentum. The increasing defence expenditures are aimed at strengthening NATO’s European pillar and achieving proportional burden-sharing with the USA. The close NATO-EU cooperation and transatlantic relations continue to be of key importance regarding the defence of Europe – this was how Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky concluded his speech.