Due to the changing security challenges, Minister of Defence Dr. István Simicskó has initiated five-party talks to be conducted in the Ministry of Defence on 12 January 2016.
On Wednesday, 9 December – during a discussion with his Czech counterpart held in the Hódmezővásárhely barracks – Hungarian Minister of Defence Dr. István Simicskó stated that ensuring the widest possible scope and effectiveness of cooperation among the Visegrád countries (V4) is Hungary’s strategic interest.
Speaking at an international NATO conference held in the Hungarian Parliament on Friday, 27 November, Minister of Defence Dr. István Simicskó said that “in the face of 21st century challenges, NATO has welded into an alliance not only of interests but also of values”.
On the morning of Wednesday, 25 November – the Memorial Day of Hungarian Political Prisoners and Forced Labourers Transported to the Soviet Union – a moment of silence was observed and a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the memorial stone of the victims of Gulags in Budapest.
The Hungarian Defence Forces are providing for the special protection of foreign military personnel in Hungary in an organised effort, Tibor Benkő, Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces told the Hungarian News Agency MTI on Saturday.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in France, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán decided that the protection of Hungary must be reinforced. To this end, the National Security Task Force headed by the Prime Minister met and decided on the introduction of reinforced security measures.
On Wednesday, 11 November, in the session of the Defence and Law Enforcement Committee of the National Assembly, Minister of Defence István Simicskó said that currently there are some 5,500 personnel in the reserves, and their call-up and training have continuously been going on since 2011–2012. These days, 454 reservists are assisting the Hungarian Defence Forces in the execution of tasks related to the handling of the migrant situation.
The Baltic Air Policing mission of the Hungarian Defence Force is now halfway through. On 1 September 2015, the 39th rotation of the Baltic Air Policing took over from the Italian and Norwegian contingents the lead of the mission to protect the common airspace of the Baltic countries.
In a speech delivered at Plot No. 300 in the Rákoskeresztúr New Public Cemetery on Hungary’s National Day of Mourning 4 November, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence Tamás Vargha said that, as also laid down in the Fundamental Law of Hungary, “our current liberty was born of our 1956 Revolution”.
The agenda of the EU chiefs of defence meeting included crises in the east and the south as well as the issue of migration. The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) met at the level of chiefs of defence in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, 28–29 October 2015 in the spirit of preparing for the meetings of the European Council at the level of Heads of State and Government and the Defence Ministers to be held in December.