Minister of Defence Csaba Hende urged the development of transatlantic cooperation in connection with NATO’s partnership network and capability development at an international conference held in Budapest on Thursday, November 22.

In his welcome speech delivered at the conference “NATO Beyond the Chicago Summit”, Speaker of Parliament László Kövér referred to the continuously expanding defence cooperation among the Visegrád countries – Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland – as a favorable example for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In connection with NATO’s partnership network and capability development, Minister of Defence Csaba Hende urged the development of transatlantic cooperation. At the same time, he reasserted that the financial crisis affects military spending as well. The Minister referred to the Central European cooperation and the relations of the Visegrád countries as good examples of partnership. Speaking about the former, he said that it had achieved results in the training of helicopter pilots, and in pooling and sharing the capabilities of CBRN defence and operational logistics, which may strengthen defence in the long run.

Minister Hende called a national interest the admission to NATO of the candidate member countries of the Western Balkans. He said that without this, lasting peace cannot be established in the region. He stressed that Hungary is committed to supporting these countries and implementing their reform processes.

The Minister of Defence also talked about the importance of countering cyber attacks, which, as he said, require the involvement of civil society as well.

NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic pointed out that the main goal of the member states is global security, which forms the basis of economic development too. Security cannot be taken for granted in the member states either, as even today, they need to tackle a lot of challenges to be able to maintain it, she pointed out, adding that the Alliance has been successful in overcoming these challenges.

In her opinion, the transatlantic relations are very strong even today, and the United States’ turning to Asia strengthens NATO as well. She also noted that after their withdrawal from Afghanistan, the NATO member states would not let the people down and would continue to provide assistance for state-building and the development of the country.

Foreign Minister János Martonyi stressed that NATO’s Chicago Summit reasserted that the Alliance remains the cornerstone of security and that solidarity among the member states should not become an empty idea. Nobody can see the organization as if it were going back on its former commitments, he said.

(MTI/MoD Press Office)