Parliament on Tuesday passed a decree under which Hungary will contribute a contingent of up to 150 soldiers to the international mission against the Islamic State terrorist organisation.

Under the decree, passed with 137 votes for and 57 against, the Hungarian soldiers will serve in Erbil, Iraq, until end-2017.

János Bencsik, a lawmaker for ruling Fidesz, all MPs of the opposition Socialists, radical nationalist Jobbik and LMP, and two independent lawmakers, Timea Szabó and Péter Kónya, voted against the motion.

The Socialists said they refused to support Hungary’s participation in the mission unless the bill was amended to ensure that Hungary’s contribution was limited to providing equipment to the international mission, training for its members and treatment for the wounded in Hungary rather than sending Hungarian soldiers to Iraq.

Radical nationalist Jobbik said after the vote that participation in the mission runs entirely counter to Hungary’s interests.

Deputy group leader Márton Gyöngyösi criticised supporters of the decree. “It says a lot about national sovereignty that only weeks after receiving a call from Washington, Hungary is sending a contingent to the mission against Islamic State, for whose existence the West, too, bears responsibility.”

He told a press conference that Hungary lacked an international legal basis for participation since neither the UN nor NATO had made the request, and he pointed out the potential risk of a terrorist attack in Hungary.

András Schiffer, group leader of small green LMP, told a press conference that Hungary’s military participation in the international mission is “just another card in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s poker game.”

He said the government wants to counterbalance Hungary’s move closer to Russia, adding that its domestic security risks were also unclear.

Zsuzsanna Szelényi of Együtt, who sits as an independent in parliament and voted in favour of the decree together with fellow Együtt lawmaker Szabolcs Szabó, said it is Hungary’s obligation to participate in an international mission that is making efforts to prevent genocide.

Liberal Party leader Gábor Fodor said he and leftist independent lawmaker Zoltán Kész voted in favour of the decree “as two committed Atlanticists,” in agreement that Hungary must support the fight against the IS terrorist organisation.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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