Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the war between Russia and Ukraine has made guaranteeing Hungary’s security the government’s number one goal.
During his speech at Budapest’s Mathias Corvinus Collegium on Monday, the minister said that though the government has made it clear that “this is not our war” and that “Hungary will not shed blood for foreign interests, we must stand on the side of the state that has been attacked, meaning Ukraine”, the minister said. Such a situation calls for speeding up military developments, which Hungary can do thanks to the fact that for the first time in centuries it is in a position to pursue sovereign, nationally minded policies, Szalay-Bobrovniczky added.
Concerning last week’s NATO summit in Madrid, the minister welcomed that at Hungary’s initiative NATO had named migration and terrorism among the biggest threats to the alliance alongside Russia. Member states also approved bolstering the eastern flank and decided to invite Finland and Sweden into the alliance, he noted. Szalay-Bobrovniczky added, however, that Hungary disagreed with the decision to assign similar threat levels to Russia and China.
Photo credit: MTI