Joint press briefing

Good afternoon.

Mr President, I would like to welcome you on your first official visit to NATO.

Hungary is a dependable Ally. And the Alliance greatly values your country’s strong support.

We are very grateful for the work that Hungarian troops are doing in Afghanistan to keep the country secure. By training the Afghan forces, you are helping to shape a better future for the Afghan people. And I welcome Hungary’s intention to stay engaged in Afghanistan after our combat mission ends.

The transition of responsibility for security from ISAF to the Afghan forces is on track. Afghan soldiers and police are taking the lead for the security of almost 90 percent of the population.  By mid-2013, they will be in the lead for the security of 100 percent of Afghans nation-wide. This will mark an important milestone. And by the end of 2014, they will be fully in charge of their own security across the country, and our ISAF mission will be completed.

Hungarian troops are also playing their part in our Kosovo mission. This reflects the importance Hungary attaches to the Western Balkans, a region which we all want to see anchored in Euro-Atlantic structures. 

Hungary’s contributions to our missions are even more valuable because they are made despite times of economic austerity. In tough times, it is even more important that we do better with what we have, and work together as much as we can.

Hungary has already joined a number of important projects. You host our Strategic Airlift Capability, three C-17 heavy transport planes which are shared by 10 Allies and two partners. You also participate in several other multinational projects, such as the pooling and sharing of medical facilities.

We should all keep looking for more opportunities to cooperate. And we must hold the line on defence spending as our economies start to recover.

So let me thank you, Mr President, for your support, and Hungary’s support. I will continue to count on that support in the months to come.

JÁNOS ÁDER (President of Hungary): Thank you very much. Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, if you have any problems with translation tell me and I'll stop for a moment. So no-one is objecting, you're on.

I would like to most cordially greet you all. First of all, I would like to beg your apology for the multiple delays that we have suffered today. I'm sure you know that we planned to arrive earlier. However, the weather stopped us from doing this. The Belgian winter and the Hungarian winter, along with other technical problems collaborated on this and this is why we are delayed with the press conference.

If I wanted to use three words to describe my discussions today these are security, trust and partnership. And let me elaborate shortly on all these three. It's close to 15 years now that Hungary joined NATO and this is the first time in its history that Hungary voluntarily joined the military Alliance. Actually after reiterating this decision through a referendum.

I think close to 15 years ago Hungarians made the right decision, and this decision back then, and also now, serves the security of Hungary, serves the security of Hungarian citizens and I think everybody could see this for themselves during the past 15 years. And this is going to be the case in the future also.

The second word I used to describe today was trust. I think the past 15 years have provided enough evidence for NATO executives that the military leaders, who over the past one and a half decades, led the Hungarian military, and all the soldiers who served in these different NATO missions, have earned the trust of NATO commanders, NATO leaders.

This is what I saw in Afghanistan. Let me share with you a personal experience. When I met with ISAF Commander, General Allen, he said... he uttered a very, very important sentence which I think really was very important for every member of my delegation. He said: wherever and when I see the Hungarian national flag—the red, white and green—whenever I see a soldier wearing that flag on their uniform, I stand confident that everything is going to be in order, that I can count on those soldiers, that these military, these soldiers will carry out their duties in a punctual way, precisely as is expected of them.

And this is what the Secretary General reiterated to me and this is what my partners that I met with in Afghanistan also told me. So we thank you and I thank them for this appreciation on behalf of all these soldiers. I think these are definitely heart-warming for us.

I think another important manifestation of this trust is going to be not only a visit by the Secretary General to Hungary during the summer, but also a series of very important NATO events that Hungary is going to host, which I hope are also going to just perhaps reinforce the words of encouragement that we've heard.

Of course, his visit is going to be a very good occasion for the Secretary General to visit the Pápa air base and to gather personal experiences about what he also mentioned.

2014 and Afghanistan, that was an issue that we also discussed; we mentioned during our talks today. Hungary stands ready to continue its presence in Afghanistan. I reiterated this intent and readiness and willingness of Hungary. If there is such a request Hungary stands ready to carry on with its participation in strengthening the security in any way that is required in Afghanistan. So we definitely will continue to participate in the mission if it is required of us.

And the third word that I used, partnership. Just two words. The Secretary General also alluded to the importance of the enlargement of NATO. Primarily the integration of Balkan countries. I think there, absolutely, we are on a similar ground here. May I also reiterate something that the Secretary General also alluded to. Equally important is strengthening the transatlantic link, carrying it forward, strengthening it as it... to make it prosper. There was absolutely no difference between us on this and I think this is definitely the right approach and one of the most important objectives for the next coming years.

Thank you very much for your attention. Mr. Secretary General, thank you very much for your patience, for your understanding, for the multiple changes of time, and I hope that in a short half a year, six months, we can continue the discussions that we started today. Thank you very much.

OANA LUNGESCU (NATO Spokesperson): And thank you very much. I'm sorry, despite our best intentions we'll have to cut this short. I've just been informed that we need to finish this press point now because the Chiefs of Defence will be coming out very soon. So I really apologize for this. Thank you very much.