Deputy State Secretary for Foreign Affairs delivered a kick-off presentation about the role of Central Europe in NATO and the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy at the Central European Strategic Forum, held in Slovakia on 29-30 November 2013.

Participants of the panel also included former Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Alexandr Vondra, Marcin Zaborowski, Director of the Polish Institute of International Relations, and Ambassador Tomáš Valášek, Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to NATO.

Elaborating on the steps taken in this field  by the Hungarian V4 Presidency, Mr Takács spoke out in favour of continuing and further deepening co-operation among the Visegrád countries.  He highlighted the common declaration issued by V4 Prime Ministers on 14 October 2013 as a good basis for developing a common position of the four Visegrád countries on security and defence policy issues at the forthcoming December meeting of EU Heads of State and Government (European Council). The Hungarian diplomat indicated that at the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers to be held in Brussels on 3-4 December 2013,  which is to start preparing the 2014 NATO Summit, Hungary will put particularly emphasis on the reiteration of NATO’s “Open Door Policy”, including further enlargement. Hungary will be represented at this meeting by Zsolt Németh, Parliamentary State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)