22.01.2015.

Meeting of Ministers of Defence of Serbia and Hungary

Сусрет министара одбране Србије и Мађарске

Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic met today with Minister of Defence of Hungary Csaba Hende at the building of the old General Staff.

Discussing the importance of the today’s talks, Minister Gasic stressed that the meeting had shown that Hungary and Serbia have a high level of bilateral military cooperation, characterized by intensive political dialogue, and that this was a continuation of cooperation and implementation of mutual conclusions from the meeting of the two governments held at the end of last year.

- During the talks, we have conveyed the stances of both sides on the current security situation in the region and in the world, and, in this context, I have informed my colleague Hende about priorities of Serbia’s chairing over OSCE, and about activities we are conducting in the process of the accession to the European Union – Minister Gasic stressed, adding that the meeting was also a chance for him to thank for the support that Hungary has given our country in the process of Euro integrations, and they also discussed Hungarian forces in KFOR.

According to the Serbian Minister of Defence, both sides stated that military cooperation is increasing, and that, since last year’s 17 joint activities, in the year before us, that number will rise to 20.

- We gladly agreed that joint deployment in peacekeeping operations in Cyprus is the pinnacle of cooperation and the trust that two ministries can share. We also talked about a number of joint military exercises that we wish to conduct in 2015, and we agreed that this can only improve our good neighboring relations – Minister Gasic stressed, adding that they had also mentioned military education and the common wish to exchange staff to this effect.

Minister Gasic stated that the capacities of the two militaries should not be duplicated, but that the existing training centers should be at disposal for mutual further training of members. He also expressed his content with the interest of the Hungarian side for military economic cooperation and the military industry of Serbia, which, as he stressed, should significantly improve and use the potentials of the special purpose industry of our country.

- We have also discussed cooperation between the two air forces, training of Hungarian pilots in Serbia, because we have potentials for good training, and the Hungarian delegation will have the opportunity tomorrow to visit the institution Moma Stanojlovic – Minister Gasic concluded at the end of his address at the Great Warrior Hall of the old General Staff.

As Minister Hende stressed, relation with Serbia is of extreme importance for Hungary, which has been proven by numerous high-level state meetings in the past period. He said that, during the day, they had overviewed the situation on the regional and world level, with special emphasis on the occurrences related to the spreading of Islamic radicalism and the events in Ukraine, with the conclusion that Europe must find a long-term and efficient solution to such challenges.

- We think that stabilization of the situation in the Balkans is on a positive course, but it should not be taken that this course could not be reversed one day. Some countries in the region are facing great challenges – Hende stressed, expressing his belief that the long-term solution can be reached by Euro-Atlantic integrations.

- Hungarian-Serbian relations are rather good, and our soldiers are jointly deployed in the peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, and in December, they won first place together at the military police competition – Minister Hende stated, adding that in March, one Hungarian officer will begin his service in the NATO office in Serbia.