Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Minister Martonyi’s speech at the 17th International NATO Conference

November 22, 2013 8:47 AM

21 Nov 2013, Budapest

Mr Speaker,
Deputy Secretary General Vershbow,
Minister Hende,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is a great honor for me to address the 17th NATO conference today, especially in the presence of our good friend, Deputy Secretary General

Ambassador Vershbow and other distinguished guests.
This conference has become our annual flagship forum to discuss security policy issues as well as the most relevant topics on NATO’s agenda not just from a Hungarian but also from a regional perspective. Today I would like to provide you with some insights how we see the developing agenda of NATO’s next Summit.

The year 2014 will mark a number of important anniversaries for the Transatlantic Community. Besides NATO’s 65th birthday we will also celebrate the anniversaries of recent rounds of NATO enlargement, involving 12 new Allies. Among them Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland will commemorate 15 years of membership. Still, when the Heads of States and Governments of NATO member countries will meet in early September next year in the United Kingdom we would like them to look ahead, chart the path, and provide a credible and comprehensive outlook for the Alliance. And if we look for wider historic relevance, then the centenary of the outbreak WWI, la grande guerre, will remind us that the ultimate mission of NATO is to guarantee peace. And the 25th anniversary of the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe will hold a lesson, too: it was the attraction rather than the deterrence NATO exercised on its former adversaries which helped the Free World win the Cold War peacefully, in one of the most remarkable victories of history.

We see paramount tasks for this Summit. First and foremost, we must urgently strengthen cohesion and solidarity within the transatlantic family. We have good reasons to do so. Beyond the values bonding us together, Europe and North America will need each other and will depend on each other in the 21st century more than ever before in many respects. A strong Europe and a strong America needs a strong NATO. Our collective decisions at the Summit should serve this objective and reinforce NATO’s role as the linchpin of our security, the forum for transatlantic security dialogue and cooperation.

NATO is the most successful permanent coalition in history, based on shared democratic values and a joint commitment to our inseparable security. But a successful Alliance can thrive only on constant attention and contribution by all of its members.

Solidarity is a two-way street. We are quite aware of the unequal burden-sharing within the Alliance that is putting enormous strains on the transatlantic link. Reinforcing the transatlantic link is a joint responsibility requiring meaningful, practical and urgent steps. Europe should do more in terms of providing defense capabilities. The European Council’s debate on CSDP later in December, and the decisions expected to be taken will lend momentum to capability development efforts, including addressing strategic shortfalls like airlift and drones.

We understand the reasons behind the growing U.S. attention towards the Asia and the Pacific region. Yet, it is in our vital interest to maintain the credible U.S. security engagement in Europe. We highly appreciate the continued U.S. political and military commitment towards Europe through the establishment of NATO’s missile defense system, extended nuclear deterrence, and substantial conventional military presence as well as joint exercises simulating Article 5 scenarios.

Keeping NATO relevant means preserving the credibility of the Alliance in both the political and military domains.

Enlargement is also about NATO’s credibility, and best served by concrete decisions. We recognize the skepticism of some Allies about launching a new round of enlargement in 2014. But skepticism has never been the engine of progress and we cannot afford to abandon this option. During Hungary’s accession talks with NATO we were required to reconfirm repeatedly the commitment not to block any further enlargement. It is somewhat ironic that this time around some Allies ask us to curb our ambition. We firmly believe that we must preserve the perspective of membership for all aspirant countries, and demonstrate that NATO’s doors will remain open.

Secretary General Rasmussen has recently described NATO’s post 2014 posture as being “ready, robust and rebalanced”. We could not agree more. We believe that implementing the concept of “NATO at readiness” should result in an Alliance that remains outward looking and steadfast in its political and military level of ambition. Collective defense and deterrence will always remain the core task and the greatest responsibility of our Alliance. We must underpin this commitment with strong capabilities, and maintain the level of military interoperability and cooperation achieved in Afghanistan.

We are witnessing the success of the exciting new initiatives within NATO, like smart defense, that should result in acquiring capabilities otherwise beyond the scope of individual members. We must find a way to facilitate smaller Allies’ contribution to operations, cooperating in multinational forms. We see great merits in developing capabilities through regional cooperation like the Visegrád Four, which Hungary currently has the honor to chair. This cooperation is also aiming at developing capabilities together that could be used in both EU and NATO.

In political terms Afghanistan will be a pivotal theme at the Summit. We should convey a strong positive message concerning our efforts. The NATO-led ISAF has delivered. The blood and treasure expended by all Allies and partners in Afghanistan have borne tangible results. By the time of the Summit ISAF will have accomplished its objectives, and the transition of security responsibilities to the competent Afghan authorities and forces will have been successfully completed. We have made it clear that NATO will not abandon Afghanistan after 2014. Launching the “Resolute Support” mission testifies to this. Our support to the Afghan government will continue in multiple ways. Hungary will take its share in the new responsibilities.

The Summit and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership and the PfP will be a good occasion to reinvigorate NATO partnerships. The first twenty years of NATO’s partnership policy have been a clear success. Partners have proved to be valuable and effective contributors to operations and have been helpful in fostering democracy and stabilization in NATO’s vicinity and way beyond. Partnership has been useful to develop and strengthen a common security culture enabling all of us to more effectively counter new types of challenges and threats. We must preserve the excellent cooperation with our operational partners in the post-ISAF environment, placing more emphasis on political dialogue.

We see clear merits in closer cooperation with like-minded democracies. The Strategic Concept envisaged the Alliance as a global player, a security provider and also a hub for partnerships. This benefits NATO and the partner country, and also promotes global security. We would also like to see further opening and reaching out to existing or emerging power centers. The topic of emerging security challenges – such as cyber and energy security– could be offered for discussion. Strategic partnership with international stakeholders, first and foremost, cooperation between NATO and the EU remains essential.

Delivering security while facing severe budgetary constraints poses unprecedented challenges for all member states. We simply cannot predict today what NATO’s next mission will be, or when the Alliance will be called upon to act. We just have to be ready. Live military exercises will certainly contribute to our preparedness, deterrence and visible assurance of our public. Nevertheless, these exercises “do not come cheap”. We have made progress in explaining the Alliance’s tasks, roles and responsibilities to the public since the Chicago Summit. Still we have to increase our efforts to convince our public and our lawmakers that security really matters.

Let me finish by looking back at our almost 15-year old membership in NATO. We have witnessed an incredibly flexible and adaptive organization that sets ambitious objectives – and delivers. We expect no less from the next Summit – and we are ready, as always, to contribute.