Hungary is taking on such a significant role in the operation of NATO that it has not played until now, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced yesterday.
Half a day before the summit meeting of the leaders of the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty, at a press conference in Brussels, Péter Szijjártó said that this November, Hungary will take over the command of NATO's largest land operation, KFOR, in Kosovo, and next year it will once again be the leading nation in the air defense of the Baltic states. while providing its eastern and southern partners with the most important tools for health protection.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade explained that Hungary will increase the Hungarian military presence in Kosovo to 500 people, and will also undertake to inoculate KFOR personnel against the coronavirus. At the same time, our country provides ventilators to several eastern and southern partners through the foundation established by NATO to alleviate the epidemic.
The head of Hungarian diplomacy also emphasized that Hungary, fulfilling its commitments made at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales, will devote 2 percent of its budget to defense expenditures by 2024 at the latest. This year it was 1.6 percent, next year it will be 1.87 percent.
Péter Szijjártó explained: Hungary started fulfilling the other commitment of the Welsh summit, which stipulates that 20 percent of defense spending should be devoted to development, five years before the deadline. The foreign minister also touched on the fact that the NATO summit will take place when the world enters a new calendar, as the political and economic relations systems that have changed as a result of the pandemic necessitate a new approach.
"The changes have serious security aspects, which is why Hungary also supports NATO's new strategic concept plan, NATO 2030," emphasized Péter Szijjártó.
Source and image: MTI
