Hungary received last month a formal request for contribution from the United States which is heading the international coalition.

According to the timeline set before, Hungarian army commanders and experts have already visited the site where Hungary would dispatch a contingent near Erbil in northern Iraq, Szijjártó said.

The general experience at the site was that local Kurds welcomed the planned Hungarian mission and this is particularly important in a “fragile and unstable environment” such as the Middle East, the minister said.

The contingent to be dispatched is planned to be composed of 110 soldiers as well as six officers who will serve at command posts, he said.

About another 34 troops are planned to stand by in Hungary, he added.

Szijjártó noted that Hungarian troops would carry out security and defence tasks at a training camp in Erbil, as the first foreign unit performing such tasks.

The total cost of the mission should not exceed the originally planned budget of 20 billion forints (EUR 67m), he said.

Szijjártó expressed hope that lawmakers would give the go-ahead to the mission already next week.

The decision requires a two-thirds majority approval in parliament.

If parliament approves Hungary’s military involvement, Hungary will have to conclude a bilateral agreement with Iraq.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI photo: Kovács Attila