LMP, independent lawmaker call for higher defence spending

Budapest, April 24 (MTI) – The opposition LMP party and an independent lawmaker are to submit a joint resolution proposal calling on the government to make real increases in defence spending in order to prove the country’s commitment to NATO.

The government should make real allocations instead of “empty statements” about Hungary’s NATO commitment, LMP co-chair Bernadett Szél told a press conference on Monday. According to some calculations, Hungary’s defence spending did not even reach one percent of GDP in 2016, and this would put Hungary at the bottom of the list of NATO member states.

She insisted that the ruling Fidesz party’s cosying up to Russia could be the reason for its “close-fisted” policy. “Yet Hungary’s role in NATO is increasingly important exactly because of Russian aggression,” she said, referring to Ukraine.