Hungary resumes full military cooperation with NATO

Hungary’s new government is restoring full military cooperation with its NATO allies, but will not supply weapons or deploy troops to Ukraine.

According to foreign media, Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi made the remarks following a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.

He said that, in addition to attending the main session, he held bilateral talks with counterparts from Canada and Sweden, as well as with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

“I told them that we are back,” Ruszin-Szendi said in a statement published on the Hungarian Defence Ministry’s website.

The minister noted that Hungary’s strategy had previously been to “enter and exit” the alliance alongside NATO partners, adding that this approach could be relied upon in the future. He said all his interlocutors reacted with enthusiasm.

At the same time, he confirmed that Hungary’s position on support for Ukraine remains unchanged. “We will not supply lethal weapons and we will not send soldiers to this country,” Ruszin-Szendi said. He noted that Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar had repeatedly stated the same position.

Ruszin-Szendi also said Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security and should not rely on the United States. “Europe must take on more responsibility for the defence of the region,” he said. “It is in Washington’s interests to create a modern and capable alliance in which the European component does not rely on American capabilities, but is able to demonstrate deterrent power independently.”

He added that higher defence spending is necessary to strengthen Europe, alongside deeper European cooperation in the defence industry and expanded production capacity.

He also said drone incidents on NATO’s eastern flank underline the need to strengthen deterrence and defensive capabilities, particularly air defence.

By Aghakazim Guliyev