19.08.2017.
Meeting of defence ministers of Serbia and Hungary
Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin has met today with Hungarian Defence Minister István Simicskó in the City Hall in Subotica. The two ministers discussed cooperation in the field of defence, the migration crisis, and the joint fight against terrorism.
After the meeting, Minister Vulin thanked his Hungarian counterpart on the cordial and sincere attitude of the Hungarian Government towards the Republic of Serbia.
- The relations of our peoples have not been on such a high level for a long time in history. Even the personal relations of the President of the Republic of Serbia and the Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr Vučić and Mr Orbán, are the thing that significantly contributes to the relations of both our governments and our people. Our armed forces have excellent cooperation, particularly our intelligence services when it comes to the fight against illegal migration and when it comes to the fight against terrorism. Serbia is a very responsible country, not transferring the burden of the migration crisis to its neighbours. And the fight against terrorism is one of our security priorities. And for us it does not matter who the terrorists threaten - whether it is Serbia or any other country. For us, they are equally enemies, Vulin stressed.
The defence minister pointed out that in September, the Serbian Armed Forces and the Hungarian Armed Forces will have two joint exercises in our territory and expressed the hope that the minister will join him in the joint observation. Vulin also thanked the Government of Hungary for the fact that its soldiers are still present in large numbers within the KFOR contingent in Kosovo and Metohija.
- For us, the downsizing of KFOR in Kosovo and Metohija is unacceptable, as well as the abolition of the mission, and we are grateful that Hungary has 373 soldiers in this contingent, Vulin added.
Vulin paid special attention to the current diplomatic efforts of Serbia:
- We also hope that the Government of Hungary will support our position that Kosmet cannot have place in either UNESCO or Interpol. I also wish to thank the Government of Hungary when it comes to the peacekeeping missions where we are jointly present and where we will continue to cooperate. Our cooperation in the field of military education, in the field of different trainings, will only continue to grow and I am sure that our peoples will have a sense of good neighbours and good cooperation.
Minister Vulin emphasized that we are proud of the Hungarian minority in Serbia, how it develops, how much they love their country, how much they love Hungary, and he said:
- We are proud that we can say that we take care of their rights at the highest possible level and that they really are a true bridge between Serbia and Hungary. Just as I am sure that my colleague thinks the same about the Serb minority in Hungary.
Minister of Defence of the Republic of Hungary István Simicskó congratulated Minister Vulin on his appointment and wished a lot of success in the future. Speaking about the meeting, he stressed that during their talks they touched upon several important issues of the bilateral cooperation. In addition to specific issues related to the military-to-military cooperation, they also discussed the migration crisis, and he pointed out that Serbia has accepted a major burden of the migration crisis. They agreed that they must cooperate as much as possible to ensure security for their citizens.
- We talked about history and about the future. And we agreed that our common future is only in cooperation. Both the Serbian and Hungarian governments are absolutely committed to these goals, and the Hungarian minority in Serbia and the Serb minority in Hungary are definitely common denominators that strengthen the cooperation between our two countries.
Hungarian Minister Simicskó invited Minister Vulin to officially visit Budapest by the end of this year.
