On Thursday, 25 May – as a member of the Prime Minister’s delegation and in company of the minister of foreign affairs and trade – Minister of Defence of Hungary Dr. István Simicskó attended the meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Brussels.
Speaking at the central ceremony of the Ministry of Defence on the occasion of the Hungarian Defence Forces’ Day, Minister of Defence István Simicskó emphasized that the greatest challenge in the 21st century is the protection of the homeland, Hungary, the survival of the nation.
In a lecture delivered at Pannon University in Veszprém on Wednesday, Minister of Defence István Simicskó stated that the Hungarian Defence Forces must find responses to future challenges, because that is how the security of Hungarian people can be guaranteed.
Parliamentary State Secretary and Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Defence Tamás Vargha held discussions on the strengthening of defence cooperation among the Visegrád Four (V4) countries in Krakow, Poland.
Speaking in Parliament, MoD Parliamentary State Secretary Tamás Vargha said that the draft resolution submitted to the National Assembly requiring two-third majority vote would authorize the Hungarian Defence Forces to continue their activities with more troops – at most 200 personnel (400 in rotation periods) – in Iraq until 31 December 2019.
On Thursday, 4 May the ministers of defence of Slovakia and Hungary met in Budapest to discuss issues in security policy, the Visegrád Four (V4) cooperation, illegal migration and the military-to-military relations between the two countries.
The Hungarian Defence Force has been actively participating in handing the situation caused by mass migration and in border protection from the very beginning, and continues to do so. On the orders of Minister of Defence Dr. István Simicskó, the military personnel on duty along the border will continue to assist the work of Police as requested and to the extent required even after the completion of the second border security fence.
“The European Union may be wealthy, but it is incapable of protecting its external borders”, Minister of Defence István Simicskó said on Hungarian M1 television’s Thursday evening current affairs program.
“The European Union must work on being able to guarantee the security of its citizens”, Minister of Defence István Smicskó said on Thursday on Kossuth Radio.
The government of Hungary proposes that the Hungarian Defence Forces continue their participation in the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State (ISIS), and increase their troop numbers in the Iraqi mission.