NATO summit – Orbán: Balkan countries should be integrated into NATO

Brussels, May 25 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday that attention should be drawn to the importance of integrating countries of the Balkans into NATO, arguing that enlargement would be crucial to consolidating peace and stability in the region.

“The Balkans is a complicated place and there are tensions,” he said.

Orbán confirmed that Hungary would meet its obligations by increasing its defence spending to about 2 percent of GDP by 2024.

Orbán urged NATO members to confirm their commitment to increasing their defence spending and presenting a timetable for spending targets.

Orbán noted that while several NATO members have already been involved in the international mission against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, NATO would officially join the international coalition at the summit.

Answering a question about European worries around Donald Trump’s election as US president, Orbán said “many of us here are old war horses; we know what campaigns are like; it’ll be fine”.

Photo: Gergely Botár

Source: MTI