(magyarhirlap)
NATO’s recent commitment to increase defence spending by at least five per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) within ten years is a great opportunity for Hungary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated on Tuesday in The Hague, according to the Ministry.
Reporting on the first day of the NATO summit, the Minister highlighted that US President Donald Trump first attended a meeting of the North Atlantic Alliance eight years ago, and in the time that has passed since then, in principle, all Member States have now met the target of spending at least two per cent of GDP on defence, and Hungary has been for three years now.
He said it is important that the allied states have now set a goal of spending five percent of their GDP on defence in two categories, in accordance with Donald Trump’s proposal. He explained that in recent years, Hungary has made very significant investments in the defence industry, the demand for the products of which sector will increase in the near future, and therefore this undertaking also holds significant economic development opportunities for Hungary. He also recalled that NATO members are also obliged to spend twenty percent of their defence budget on developments and procurements, and Hungary is among the leaders in this field.
“Last year, we were in fourth place in the federation with a value of 45 percent. And this means that Hungary is spending almost half of its defence budget on modernisation, new equipment and development in order to be able to guarantee the security of Hungary, the Hungarian people and Hungarian families in an age of dangers and crises”, he stressed.
“We will preserve Hungary’s peace and security in an age of danger, in the midst of wars, in an extremely uncertain international environment”, he continued. Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that for the first time since 2022, the focus at the military organisation’s summit is not on even stronger support for Ukraine, but on the consolidation of collective defence. He also welcomed the fact that for the first time, Ukraine’s NATO membership has been “openly, clearly and unambiguously” removed from the agenda, which is also shown by the fact that the country’s president has not been invited to the official part of the meeting, but can only participate in the informal dinner.
“I am convinced that by taking Ukraine’s NATO membership off the agenda, the world has become a safer place (…) Because if Ukraine had become a member of NATO, it would have led to a direct confrontation between the North Atlantic Alliance and Russia, and such a direct confrontation would obviously have been tantamount to the outbreak of World War III,” he said.
“We could also say that reason has prevailed in NATO, rationality has prevailed, and we can finally leave behind the artificial and extremely dangerous approach that said that NATO’s defense is Ukraine’s defense, or Ukraine’s defense is NATO’s defense,” he added. Finally, the Minister praised the US president’s peace efforts and expressed hope that NATO will finally unite behind this policy, as the war in Ukraine has been raging for more than three and a half years, which can only end at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield.
“And the best chance, I could say, is that Donald Trump is the only one who has the chance to achieve this. Therefore, we hope that this time the NATO allies will take advantage of these two days here in The Hague and unite behind Donald Trump, as we Hungarians have done,” he said. He also said that Hungary is not only doing something for its own security, but also for the security of its allies.