1 July 2013

Greetings to all of you, good afternoon,

The Secretary General and I have had an exciting conversation and meeting. I am sure you all know that the Secretary General is held in high respect by European leaders. And not only because he can boast an excellent performance at the helm of NATO, but also because he was once a Prime Minister, and a successful one to boot, which is a rarity these days. And so I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to welcome a leader who also has detailed knowledge of the situation in Europe. This is an important factor, because one of NATO's important questions for the future is: in what situation are the member states and how much money are they capable of putting towards military expenditure and development. And I have agreed with the Secretary General that although we are without doubt experiencing a crisis and there are difficulties, but we cannot give up the level of security we have already achieved, and we cannot step down from the agreements we have previously established, and which declare that we shall maintain our security capabilities at a high level. I have already negotiated with the Secretary General on this issue three years ago, at which time we agreed on the main directions of Hungarian military development. I have now reinforced the commitment we made then and have told the Secretary General that it is not simply in view of our international commitments but also because of our own, national interests that we must develop our army, value our army and value the system of military cooperation within NATO. There is no strong country without a respectable army. Accordingly, Hungary needs a Hungarian army that is deserving of respect both at home and throughout the world. And the Government must create the conditions for this both from an administrative and financial perspective.

I would like to remind you that there are currently more than 600 Hungarian soldiers serving under NATO command, and over 1000 Hungarian soldiers serving under the command of NATO and other international organisations. We are proud of them, personally, meaning of each of them individually, and we are proud of the fact that Hungary is a country that is capable of contributing 1000 soldiers to international military operations performed in the interests of commendable ideals and principles. We have reinforced our commitment with regard to Afghanistan. We have already stated that we have gone in together and we'll come out together. We will hold further negotiations on the details, but we remain true to this principle. I would like to tell you that we will also maintain our military presence in Kosovo, where Hungarian soldiers have also won praise from local residents.

And finally, I also drew the Secretary General's attention to the fact that there are currently undoubtedly obstacles to NATO expansion, but NATO's openness and willingness to consider including more member states should be maintained, and we should not let momentary opportunities slip through our fingers. For this reason, I have asked the Secretary General that, although perhaps not as a main topic, we definitely include the issue of expansion at the next NATO summit. I would like to once again thank the Secretary General for having been so kind as to pay us a visit.

(Prime Minister’s Office)