Defence minister: Hungary takes its defence budget obligations seriously

Hungary is serious about raising its defence budget and is doing everything it can to ensure that it fulfils NATO targets in this area, Hungary’s defence minister said on Thursday.

According to a ministry statement, Tibor Benkő participated in a two-day ministerial meeting of NATO member states in which general agreement was expressed on the need to further strengthen the alliance, including in the area of combatting terrorism.

Benkó said that whereas Hungary’s security situation could be said to be stable, the country intersected with eastern and southern potential flashpoints.

The stability of the Western Balkans is vitally important to Hungary in this respect.

Regarding pledges to increase defence spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2024, Benkő said Hungary was on course to meet the deadline as well as its commitment to spend 20 percent of its spending on military developments.