Defence Minister Of Hungary Expects Protracted Conflict In Ukraine
- 30 Jun 2014 5:00 AM
Ukraine is involved in what will probably become a protracted conflict, to which both Hungary and NATO should give a response, Defence Minister Csaba Hende told the annual meeting of military, defence and air attaches. “The Ukrainian crisis has radically changed Europe’s security environment. Both Hungary, including its armed forces, and NATO should prepare for a protracted conflict.”
NATO’s September summit, to be held in Wales, should assess the strategic consequences of the crisis and draw appropriate conclusions, he added. Hende said NATO should adopt a uniform position on Russia and deploy forces and military technology to member states along its eastern borders.
The Ukrainian crisis has once again highlighted the untenable discrepancy between US and European defence budgets, Hende said. Any delay in increasing European defence spending will have negative long-term impacts on transatlantic relations. “Hungary fully supports the idea of increasing defence spending in the years to come.”
In 2012, despite the impacts of the economic crisis, the Hungarian government made a commitment not to reduce the country’s defence budget between 2013 and 2015, and increase it by at least 0.1 percentage point of GDP from 2016, to reach an annual 1.4% by 2022.
Source www.hungarymatters.hu
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