Hungary has made commitments to join the shared military capability development projects of EU member states in several “pooling and sharing” areas such as the Helicopter Training Program (HTP), field hospitals, flying training for aircraft pilots and European transport hubs – Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende said on November 30 in Brussels.

In the break of the meeting of EU Defence Ministers, Hungarian Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende told MTI that Hungary intends to join the Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) project too, because the Hungarian Defence Forces’ training centre in Szentendre provides a suitable venue for its implementation.

In times of budgetary pressures, all European countries have a hard time generating the required military capabilities. As Dr. Csaba Hende noted, “apart from the reduced defence budgets, we have an increasing number of challenges to face”. For this reason, instead of aiming at developing all kinds of capabilities by themselves, the EU member states are seeking ways to implement projects based on the rational principle of “pooling and sharing” the cost burdens and the available capacities. The Hungarian Defence Minister added that the European Defence Agency (EDA) proposed a total of 16 development projects at the meeting, four of which is to involve Hungary’s participation in line with our commitments.

The Defence Ministers discussed the ongoing EU military operations, of which the EUFOR ALTHEA in Bosnia-Herzegovina is a priority for Hungary. While addressing this item on the agenda, Csaba Hende stressed that Hungary continues to actively participate in the operation, and welcomes the consensus among the member states over the need for carrying on with it. The mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina is not only a task of the regional and neighboring countries, but also a European concern, the Minister emphasized. He said he agrees with shifting the focus to training activities as the operation goes on, at the same time pointing to the fact that ALTHEA’s executive mandate will continue too. On November 30 Dr. Csaba Hende held bilateral talks with his two new counterparts, Defence Ministers Demetris Eliades (Cyprus) and Dimitris Avramopoulos (Greece).

(Source: MTI, Photo: consilium.europa.eu and archives)