Photo: miniszterelnok.hu
Hungary has received a guarantee in connection with the Russia-Ukraine war that it will not have to take part in military operations outside the country, that it will not have to supply money or men for the war and that Hungarian territory cannot be used for any involvement in the war, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday in the company of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Orbán said that Hungary is a loyal and committed member of NATO and recalled that 1 300 Hungarian soldiers are currently participating in various NATO missions.
He added that Hungary is one of the few countries that meets all its NATO commitments: its defence spending is more than two per cent of gross domestic product and the country is meeting or exceeding the 20 % military capability development target.
He said that Hungary also carries out air policing tasks for Slovakia and Slovenia and from time to time for the Baltic States.
He added that the Hungarian Embassy, as a NATO focal point, plays an important role in relations with the countries of Central Asia and Africa.
Orbán said that Hungary is able to strengthen NATO with these contributions and will continue to fulfil these commitments in the future.
The Prime Minister praised Jens Stoltenberg, who, in his opinion, has a high reputation in Hungary, as cooperation between NATO and Hungary has intensified during his tenure as Secretary General.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, he said that it was common knowledge that Hungary's position was different from that of most NATO member states and admitted that the weight and number of opinions different from his own were considerable.
Hungary has had the opportunity to express its position in every forum, but it must realise that it has neither the ability nor the power to change in large numbers views that are different from its own, he added.
Hungary, he said, made it clear at Wednesday's talks that it does not want to block decisions in NATO that may differ from reasonable decisions that would result from our assessment of the situation, but are decisions that are shared and urged by other member states.
He stressed that Hungary had received from Mr Stoltenberg the guarantees it had requested; namely that any military operations outside NATO territory could only be organised on a voluntary basis.
He recalled that in the last EP elections held in Hungary, the most important issue decided was the question of war and peace. Members of the Hungarian public had given the government a mandate to ensure that Hungary did not take part in military operations outside NATO territory, he said.
When asked what guarantees there are that Hungary will not be forced to go to war in the future, Orbán replied that there are two guarantees: one is the Hungarian government, the other is the NATO Secretary General.
He said that Hungary had received a guarantee in connection with the Russo-Ukrainian war that it would not have to take part in any military operations outside its territory, that it would not have to provide either money or men for the purposes of the war, and that Hungarian territory could not be used for any involvement in the war.
According to Orbán, NATO documents make it clear that participation in any mission outside allied territory can only be voluntary.
Hungary does not want to and cannot change the decisions of the other 31 Member States; at the same time, NATO has accepted and recognised, through the Secretary-General, that Hungary wants to make full use of the room for manoeuvre provided by the alliance's statutes.
Orbán added that they had received everything they needed to settle all outstanding issues, the negotiations with the Secretary General had been constructive and a fair agreement had been reached.
miniszterelnok.hu/gnews.cz- RoZ_07
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