Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő visited China to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. During the Minister’s visit, memoranda of understanding were signed with relation to the field of internal monitoring and cooperation between military healthcare services.
On Monday, 18 November, Defence Minister Tibor Benkő received Siegfried Peinen, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium accredited to Budapest as part of an introductory visit.
Hungary has a vested interest in supporting the EU’s enhanced acting capacity, Defence Minister Tibor Benkő stressed on Tuesday, 12 November after the Brussels meeting of the European Union’s defence ministers. The agenda of the meeting included the implementation of the European security and defence package, the status of missions and operations, and the current issues of EU-NATO cooperation.
Defence Minister Tibor Benkő received Colonel General Milan Mojsilovic at a courtesy visit. The Serbian chief of staff came to Hungary at the invitation of Lieutenant General Ferenc Korom, Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces.
The meeting of the V4 Senior Body comprising the four countries’ deputy defence ministers and defence state secretaries was held on 4-5 November in Prague under the auspices of the Czech Republic which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Visegrád Group.
In the presence of Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő, Hungary’s national flag was hoisted and then lowered to half-mast with full military honours on Kossuth Square in front of the Parliament Building in Budapest to mark the quashing of the 1956 Revolution and fight for freedom. As an expression of commemoration, the national flag will remain at half-mast through the national day of mourning.
Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő received the Republic of Italy’s Ambassador to Budapest Massimo Rustico in his office at the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday, 29 October.
Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő is attending a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on 24-25 October.
On Thursday, prior to the first working session of the meeting of NATO defence ministers, the Minister of Defence held a staff meeting for members of Hungary’s Permanent Delegation to NATO. Personnel from the HDF Office of Hungary’s National Military Representative, based in Mons, also attended the staff meeting. Mr. Benkő briefed those present on recent events, including the changes in personnel at the Ministry of Defence, the preferential divestiture of housing under the asset management of the Ministry, and other issues affecting and with interest to staff.
“Hungary is the country of freedom; the Hungarian people are the people of freedom; 23 October 1956 is the day of freedom”, Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő said on Monday 21 October at an event in Budapest held to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and Fight for Freedom.
The Cooperative Security 2019 international migration crisis handling exercises at the Újmajor training area near Veszprém came to a successful close on Thursday 17 October. During the exercises, military personnel from the participating countries practiced the prevention and handling of a possible mass migration emergency.