Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő received U.S. Ambassador to Budapest David Cornstein in his office on 24 September.
The primary reason for Ambassador Cornstein’s visit was to introduce Deputy Chief of Mission Marc Dillard to the Minister. Mr. Dillard has been working at the Embassy since August of this year, and previously served in both Washington and Bulgaria.
At the meeting, Mr. Benkő highlighted the fact that the United States is one of Hungary’s most important strategic partners within the field of defence cooperation. “As part of this, onef f the determining elements of the relationship between Hungary and the United States is our contribution to the security of the transatlantic region and reinforcing NATO cohesion. With relation to our undertakings as part of NATO, the Hungarian Defence Force and Military Development Programme launched in 2016, which is realising the largest military development of the past thirty years, occupies a priority role”, the Minister emphasised. Parallel to its military development programme, Hungary is also playing a heightened role in NATO missions and operations.
Another subject of discussion at the meeting was the new Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) concluded between the two countries, which came into force on 21 August. Mr. Benkő highlighted the fact that the adoption of the treaty opens new horizons before mutual and bilateral military cooperation. As he explained, the goal is for the newly agreed treaty to serve as a long-term solution for both parties.
A priority area of Hungarian-American defence cooperation is special operations cooperation. It was also stated that the U.S. administration highly appreciates the contribution of the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan and to the fight against ISIS. Relations are being further reinforced by the fact that the United States is providing significant training and capability development funding to the HDF each year, in addition to which Hungary is a regular venue for the training courses and military exercises of the America’s Armoured Brigade Combat Team, which is based in Europe.