PM Orbán and NATO’s Rutte: Hungarian jets to guard Baltic airspace and strengthen defence

Hungary is a “loyal and reliable” NATO ally that contributes significantly to the development of the alliance’s defence capacities, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Brussels on Monday, adding that this was crucial in the current “new era of world politics”.

It is important that “in the completely new geopolitical reality” NATO return to its original goals of being the world’s strongest defence alliance, Szijjarto said after a working breakfast with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, according to a ministry statement. “This defence alliance needs to strengthen its defence capabilities,” Szijjártó said. “And as a loyal and reliable ally, Hungary contributes significantly to the development of NATO’s defence capacities.” He noted that 2025 will be the third consecutive year in which Hungary spends more than 2 percent of its GDP on defence. “And it should be noted that this isn’t something that’s totally obvious, as there are still eight member states — so a quarter of our allies — that haven’t been able to reach this 2 percent level,” he said.