Hungary has confirmed that it will contribute more to NATO’s defense efforts, the foreign minister announced during the NATO summit in Brussels.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, added that Hungary will increase its contributions to boosting NATO’s strength.
The minister said Hungary has embarked on a comprehensive military reform with a view to producing a regionally competitive army.
Minister Szijjártó said the country has recently ordered new helicopters for some 100 billion HUF (308m EUR) and Hungary’s military development scheme dubbed Zrínyi 2026 will enable it to honour its pledge to increase its defense spending to 2 percent of GDP.
The minister also revealed that Hungary will increase its contingent of 117 troops in Afghanistan by another 12 soldiers.
He added that Hungary will join NATO’s training mission in Iraq aimed at preparing that country’s security forces for protecting the territories that have been taken back from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
Hungary will also expand its role in the international fight against ISIS by increasing the number of Hungarian soldiers serving in Iraq from 167 to 200 and add to its contingent serving in the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo to 390 soldiers, the minister said.