“The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)’s gradual transition of lead security responsibility and the related tasks to the Afghan security forces is on schedule and making steady progress province by province and region by region in Afghanistan” – Dr. Csaba Hende pointed out in Brussels. The Minister of Defence participated in the Defence Ministers’ Meeting of NATO member countries that ended on Friday, February 3.

Answering a question from MTI, Csaba Hende said that by this summer the transition is scheduled to reach a stage in which more than half of the Afghan population will be living in areas where the Afghan security forces have taken lead responsibility. NATO will not let Afghanistan down after the 2014 completion of the roadmap leading to the transition of lead security responsibility to the Afghan forces – the Minister stressed.

He noted that NATO can mainly provide assistance to develop security structures in the Central Asian country, and that the funding of the Afghan security forces will be a big issue in the future. Csaba Hende referred to the Ministers’ self-critical remark that the operations in Libya have shown that NATO needs to improve some of its capabilities, which calls for joint efforts in this field.

On Thursday, February 2 the Hungarian Minister of Defence had bilateral discussions with Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra on the ways of expanding the scope of military cooperation. The items on the agenda of the meeting included pilot training with special emphasis on Hungary’s joining the Czech–Croatian training program for Mi-17 helicopter crews, and the possibilities in the use of the Czech-made L-159 trainer aircraft were also discussed.

(MTI)