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Hungarian Chief of Defence attends NATO session

Recognition for Hungarian soldiers serving in Belgium

Text: Vendel Teszler | Photo: HDF General Staff |  14:07 January 20, 2023

On 18–19 January, leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the representatives of Finland and Sweden held a two-day meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The event was attended by Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi PhD, Chief of the HDF General Staff, who also met the Hungarian soldiers serving in Belgium and gave them recognitions.

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“[…]we are seeing the dawn of a new era of collective defence”, it was stated in the opening remarks delivered at the highest-level meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels. The ensuing discussions focused on the development of military capabilities and the deepening of cooperation among the allies.

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana opened the first meeting of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session together with Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee. In their opening remarks, they informed the participants about the current political goals and discussed the security challenges faced by the Alliance in the current global environment.

In his opening remarks, Admiral Bauer referred to the degraded global security environment caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In his opinion, we are seeing the dawn of a new era of collective defence. He identified three areas of important work in the run-up to the next Summit set to take place in Vilnius later this year: investing more in defence, ramping up production of weapons and ammunition, and transforming NATO for the digital age.

The Military Committee discussed the strengthening of the Defence and Deterrence posture of the Alliance by increasing readiness, developing capabilities and interlinking national and NATO military planning more closely than ever.

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The agenda of the event also included a discussion of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the military support to be provided to Kiev, as well as an analysis of the security situation in the Western Balkans, among others from the perspective of the KFOR mission.

On the margins of the NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session held in Brussels, Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi PhD, Chief of the HDF General Staff personally presented recognitions to Hungarian soldiers serving in Belgium for their outstanding work. Also in attendance at the event was Dr. Iván Tamás Kovács, Hungary’s ambassador to Brussels.

After the NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session in Brussels, Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi PhD participated in Hungarian–Spanish and Hungarian–Croatian bilateral discussions as well.