We continue to strengthen our strategic partnership with Serbia

At a press conference held after the meeting with Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, the Hungarian minister of defence said that he had also discussed with his official counterpart the peace and security of the Western Balkan region and the ongoing war in the neighborhood. He stated that Hungary’s standpoint remains the same: there is a need for immediate truce and peace talks, and diplomacy is the only solution, which means that the peace talks should start as soon as possible.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky pointed out that last year, in the joint session of the Hungarian and Serbian governments, the two ministries of defence concluded a strategic agreement, and in the recent period, they worked to fill this agreement with specific contents, since defence and security have always been sensitive and significant fields in the cooperation between two countries. The minister highlighted that he and Bratislav Gasic discussed possibilities for cooperation in the fields of defence/defence industry and the military, among others military medicine. He stated that the frequent and high-level meetings between the two countries and their content shows that we are witnessing a golden age of the Hungarian-Serbian relations.

Speaking to the Hungarian public media, he emphasized that Serbia and Hungary are mutual strategic partners. “This is also because the security of the Western Balkan region is crucial to the peace and security of Hungary and Europe as a whole” – he underlined. As he said, illegal migration puts a constant pressure on Europe, which causes concerns for both countries.

Because of the war in Ukraine and the constant pressure on the Western Balkan region, Hungary considers Serbia’s stability important, along with the requirement that the region “should be predictable and calm in the military sense, too.” He added that “the Western Balkans is the most important area in the foreign presence of the Hungarian armed forces. For several years now, we have been present in NATO’s largest land mission KFOR with a substantial force, just like in EUFOR’s Operation Althea, which is the token of the presence of the EU and partly NATO in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, the commander of EUFOR is a Hungarian general” – he underscored.

Speaking at the press conference, Bratislav Gasic also highlighted the importance of strategic cooperation between the two ministries. He added that the participants of the meeting also discussed the security situation of the region, and for Serbia, the biggest threat to its security was the unilateral proclamation of Kosovo’s independence, and the fact that several countries recognize Kosovo as an independent country.

Press release of the Ministry of Defence