State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zsolt Németh met Alexander Vershbow, Deputy Secretary-General of NATO February 14, 2013.

Speaking to Hungarian News Agency MTI after the talks, Németh stressed Hungary’s commitment to contributing to stability in the Western Balkans. Montenegro and Macedonia are in line to join NATO in the next round of enlargement, which could take place next year, he said. Hungary will retain its presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo and encourages its allies “to keep in focus the importance of completing stability in the Balkans”.

When speaking about the importance of enlargement, Németh said NATO’s reputation largely hinged on whether the organisation could go on with its open doors programme and he trusted that next year's NATO summit would give the green light for further enlargement.

The talks touched upon NATO’s cooperation with Ukraine and Russia. Németh welcomed the revival of the NATO–Russia Council and the agreement with Ukraine to deepen cooperation.

Németh said the international community must not abandon Afghanistan after troops withdraw from its territory. Hungary is committed to helping Afghanistan in the future, he added.

Németh also noted that NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen would visit Hungary in summer and that the organisation’s chiefs of staff were scheduled to meet in Budapest in September.

Németh told Deputy Secretary General of NATO that Hungary would maintain the current level of defense spending in 2013-14, and would increase it by an annual 0.1 percentage point in the following years, raising it to 1.4 per cent of total spending in the medium term.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)