“The acts of terrorism in Paris and Brussels clearly prove that terrorists have exploited the mass migration targeting the continent”, Minister of Defence István Simicskó stated on Friday, April 15 at the leading foreign policy and security forum in Central Europe, the Globsec 2016 conference held in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Minister of Defence István Simicskó is also attending the GLOBSEC 2016 security policy conference in Bratislava on 15 April. The main topics of the three-day event are the migrant crisis, the crisis in the Middle East, the Islamic State and the Syrian war, as well as the effects of Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and Syria and the lead-up to the NATO Summit in Warsaw.
At a press briefing held after multi-party talks in Budapest on Friday 8 April, the Minister of Defence stated that the parliamentary parties have agreed on the need to amend the Fundamental Law of Hungary in relation to counter-terrorism measures.
The countries involved in handling the migration crisis adopted a joint declaration in Vienna on Friday, 1 April.
Due to the increased number of illegal border violations in the last few days, in response to a request from the Ministry of the Interior, the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) have started the further physical reinforcement of the temporary border barrier in certain sectors along the Hungarian–Serbian border. In order to finish the work as soon as possible, more HDF units were deployed into the area at the weekend.
On Monday, 28 March – after making a visit to the border near Ásotthalom together with the National Police Commissioner’s Deputy for Public Order Maj.-Gen. Zsolt Halmosi – Chief of Defence Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő stated that “the soldiers serving on the border are well-prepared and motivated. Their core task is to support the work of the police.”
Speaking in the program “Mokka” of TV2 channel on the morning of Friday, 25 March, the Minister of Defence stated that all means must be used against terrorists. Dr. István Simicskó also underlined that the counter-terrorism action plan of the government does not include any baseless measures that violate the principle of proportionality.
During a ceremony held in Brussels on Monday, 14 March to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Minister of Defence Dr. István Simicskó stated that “Freedom comes at a huge price, it must be fought for and then preserved; migration may radically rewrite European history if we do not preserve our freedom and culture”.
Speaking at a ceremony held on Kecskemét Air Base to mark the 10th anniversary of the JAS–39 Gripen fighter jets entering service, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence stated that “the Hungarian Air Force has guaranteed the security of tens of millions of European citizens by simultaneously performing air policing tasks in the Baltic countries and Slovenia for four months.”
On 2 March, a daylong conference entitled “Migration – Conflict or Cooperation?” was organized in Stefánia Palace, Budapest by the Scientific Research Centre of the General Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The patron of the conference is Minister of Defence Dr. István Simicskó.