The Security of Our Region is a Common Cause

“We cooperate in several fields within the framework of NATO, the European Union and other regional defence initiatives. Out of these, the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre (HQ MND-C) is outstanding, where Croatia is also a framework nation, similarly to Hungary and Slovakia. They also contribute to the NATO Forward Land Forces Battle Group (FLF BG) in Hungary and plan to further enhance their contribution in the future”, underlined László Hajnik. He added that the HQ MND-C – which has reached its full operational capability – must be made combat ready to strengthen the NATO Eastern Flank. “With my Croatian counterpart, we agreed that the command must be filled with manoeuvring brigades and combat support and combat service support sub-units so that it becomes a real fighting division.”

In the field of military cooperation, NATO FLF BG is of outstanding significance. The contribution of each participant and cooperating NATO member state (Hungary, Croatia, Italy and Türkiye) enhances the region’s security.

At the meeting, current security policy challenges, such as the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Western Balkans, were also discussed. Preserving the security situation of the latter is a priority interest for both countries; thus, Croatia contributes to regional security by participating in KFOR, while Hungary participates in EUFOR and KFOR.

The defence policy directors covered the bilateral and multinational forms of cooperation and their possibilities for development. “As of December 2024, we are temporarily carrying out air policing in the Croatian airspace together with Italy. As a result of this, the cooperation between the air forces of the two countries is expected to further deepen and similarly to the already mentioned HQ MND-C and FLF BG, the military cooperation between the two countries will also develop continuously here”, said the MoD Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy.