Gábor Böröndi, Chief of the Hungarian Armed Forces, said the Hungarian presidency of the European Council sees the development of defense capabilities as a priority.
Speaking in Koroshegy, near Lake Balaton, at the Central Training Base of the Hungarian Armed Forces, after a military show in the framework of a meeting of the EU Military Committee (EUMC), Böröndi told a press conference that Hungary was a staunch supporter of strengthening Europe's defense industry and crisis management capacity so that the bloc can live up to the challenges of a changing security environment.
The "dynamic presentation" concluding the Brave Warrior 2024 military exercise was attended by the chiefs of staff of the EU member states, as well as those of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, and the military representative of North Macedonia.
Besides Hungarian troops, Croatian, Romanian, Slovak and Slovenian units also participated in the exercise, Böröndi said. "It was a critically important step in the development of joint defense capabilities and future crisis management operations," he said. The aim was to advance peace and stability, he said.
Summarising the exercise, General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EUMC, said the script was simulating the evacuation of EU citizens from a politically unstable third country. Besides the participating infantry and reconnaissance units of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, experts from Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Greece contributed to organising and leading the exercise, the general said.
The joint commitment showed the possibilities in the EU's armed forces, he added.