State Secretary Zsolt Kutnyánszky has highlighted that less than six months before the start of Hungary’s EU presidency, the bloc’s defense policy was focused on the development of the defense industry, the war in Ukraine and the security of the Sahel.
After a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels, Kutnyánszky, the state secretary for defense policy and defense industry, said participants had watched a video message from Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian defense minister, asking for further support for Ukraine. Several states’ representatives argued for the procurement of more ammunition and handing over “equipment in national reserves” to Ukraine, Kutnyánszky said. At the same time, he said Hungary stood by its stance that it would not hand over or sell weapons or ammunition to Ukraine. The country “constructively abstained” last year, when the matter was voted on in the European Commission, he added. The meeting focused on the EU’s technological and defense industry, and the matter of a joint defense industry strategy, he said. Hungary has already started boosting its defense industry, with a view to supplying its own market as well as entering the European one, he said. The defense industry’s development will be one of the focal points of the Hungarian EU presidency in the second half of 2024, he added. Discussing security issues in the Sahel and the Red Sea region, Kutnyánszky noted Hungary’s active role in supporting stability there. It is launching a complex defense, agricultural and development programme in Chad, he said.