Campaign of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL reduces migration pressure and terrorist threat in Europe

On Thursday, 20 July, Hungarian Deputy Minister of Defence Tamás Vargha attended, in Washington D.C., the meeting of defence ministers of the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). He was accompanied on his journey by Péter Siklósi, Deputy State Secretary for Defence and Security Policy of the Ministry of Defence.

The decisions taken by Heads of State and Government of member countries at the NATO Summit in Warsaw held on 8–9 July have paved the way for the current ministerial meeting of the military coalition. The participants of the Warsaw Summit agreed that in the future, NATO should pay more attention to tackling the challenges it faces from the south, especially terrorism, migration and instability.

The objective of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL is to “degrade, and ultimately destroy” the terrorist organization named Islamic State. So far 66 countries have joined the US-led coalition.

Altogether 26 countries contribute to the military efforts of the coalition, including Hungary, as more than 100 Hungarian troops have been serving in Iraq since August 2015.

Hungary takes part with a military force in the international efforts aimed at resolving the armed conflict, because it has committed itself to reducing the terrorist threat in Europe. We are convinced that we need to get to the root of the problems before we can solve them. This conflict-ridden region encompasses some source countries of the migration crisis that seriously affects Hungary as well.