Besides current topics like the issues of the Syrian conflict which keep drawing attention, the Chiefs of Defence participating in the NATO Military Committee Conference to be held in Budapest at the weekend will assess the Afghanistan and the Kosovo missions as well, the latter being especially important from Hungary’s point of view, Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, Chief of the Defence Staff told Hungarian News Agency MTI.

The general informed MTI that the Chiefs of Defence are going to discuss the current situation in Syria, which is changing almost from hour to hour and has many question marks over it, so for the time being it is unnecessary to speculate about the extent to which the meeting will go into this issue. According to the latest updates, there will be no need for any special agenda at the conference due to the events in Syria,. At the same time, Gen. Benkő noted that as organizers, they must “meet the increased security requirements necessitated by the situation in Syria”.

In addition to ensuring proper working conditions and a venue for the conference preceded by several months of preparations, the hosting country is also responsible for the security of all conference participants. The Military National Security Service and the Operational Police (which is subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior) will jointly carry out the security tasks for the weekend meeting of Chiefs of Defence.

Gen. Tibor Benkő told MTI that during its three-day visit to Hungary, the Military Committee will be in session continuously from Saturday 8 a. m. to 7 p. m. First of all, the participants will discuss the most current topics, asking for all member states’ opinion and striving to reach consensus on all issues.

The main topics of the Budapest conference will include the foreign NATO-led operations, and the discussion will focus on possible responses to the emerging challenges in the regions of the Middle East and North Africa. Besides, the participants will survey the most important tasks for the next two years. The planned transformation of the Alliance will be on the agenda of the meeting, the Chief of Defence said, adding that “if NATO wants to retain its efficient capabilities for dealing with threats in the future, it must utilize the increasingly limited resources in the most effective way”.

The Military Committee, NATO’s highest decision-making body meets three times a year – twice in Brussels, and in one of the 28 NATO member countries in mid-September. The nations can apply for the right of hosting the event for the next 5-7 year-period. Twelve years ago, on September 11, 2011 Hungary was going to organize such a meeting, but the event was interrupted due to the terror attack on the United States. Over the last 12 years, Hungary has become an important member of NATO. As a result of what happened back then, the security policy situation has changed, for example making it possible for Hungary to participate in a wide spectrum of operations.

“Unattainable as it seemed at that time, the target of deploying 1,000 troops in foreign missions has been realized in recent years”, Tibor Benkő pointed out, noting that as compared to the manpower of armed forces, this number puts Hungary in the top of the ranking of NATO member countries.

Last year, with approval from Minister of Defence Csaba Hende, the Chief of Defence proposed that Hungary would host this year’s meeting, and the Military Committee unanimously accepted the invitation. According to Gen. Tibor Benkő, “winning the right to host the conference can be seen as NATO’s recognition of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the success of our military diplomacy”.

(MTI)