Jorge Domecq, EDA Chief Executive, met with Hungarian Minister of Defence, Csaba Hende to exchange views about the preparation of the European Council in June 2015 and Hungary’s participation in EDA projects.
"The role and efforts of EDA in facilitating defence cooperation in Europe are of outstanding importance in filling capability gaps. Even more so in the light of new security challenges Europe faces", the Hungarian Minister of Defence, Csaba Hende pointed out during his discussion with the Chief executive of EDA. The minister expressed his appreciation that the Agency pays attention to the specificities of Central- and Eastern- European defence industry and places a special emphasis on offering solutions for SMEs to get better market access and benefit from EU funds.
“The European Defence Agency is an instrument at the service of Member States. Its flexible approach allows nations to pick and choose the projects they are interested in. The Agency can facilitate bilateral, regional or European-wide defence cooperation depending on the priorities of Member States. Hungary’s active involvement in the Agency’s work on helicopter training, C-IED and personnel recovery are much appreciated. It demonstrates the range of topics covered by the Agency to best support its Member States”, said Jorge Domecq during his visit in Budapest.
The visit in Hungary also allowed for meetings with other high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and representatives of the Ministry of National Economy. It is part of a series of visits by Mr. Domecq to all EDA Member States following his appointment as EDA Chief Executive and ahead of the Ministerial Steering Board on 18 May 2015. So far, Mr. Domecq visited Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Estonia and Poland. Tomorrow he will head to Greece, followed by Cyprus.