Norway is making a significant contribution to an important area of Hungary’s defence capabilities, namely its air defence, the Defence Minister said in Oslo on Thursday. In a statement sent to MTI, the Ministry of Defence quoted Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky as saying that “in times of war, it is particularly important to strengthen our cooperation with our partners and allies”.
According to the statement, the minister also held talks with representatives of the Norwegian government and parliament. The Defense Minister also held talks with Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram on a number of important issues. First and foremost, they discussed the development of Hungary’s air defense system, to which Norway contributes with the NASAMS missile system. According to the press release, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that the delivery of the system and the training will be carried out as agreed, and expressed the hope that this cooperation will be followed by others in the future.
The ministers discussed the situation created by the war in Ukraine and the two countries’ responses to it. According to the statement, the Hungarian Defense Minister said that the face-to-face meetings provide an opportunity for the parties to “hear each other’s positions first-hand and without distortion”.
Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky stressed that the war is seen from a different perspective by Hungarians living in the immediate neighborhood and with a significant national community in Ukraine, where not only Hungarian lives are being lost in the fighting, but also the rights of Hungarian minorities are being reduced again.
Hungary protects Hungarians, whether they live on the Hungarian or the Ukrainian side of the border, he said, adding that this is why the government does not provide weapons or ammunition to Ukraine and does not allow arms shipments and equipment to cross its borders into Ukraine.
He stressed that Hungary has nevertheless condemned the war from the very beginning, stands by Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and is helping the war-affected in the largest humanitarian operation in its history, both in Hungary and in Ukraine.
Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky reported that he had also met with members of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Norwegian Parliament. He also assured the MEPs that Hungary is a committed and over-performing NATO ally, as demonstrated by its many international engagements, notably in the Baltic Airspace Force, in KFOR, NATO’s largest land operation, and in Kosovo, and by Hungary’s role as a framework nation for one of the multinational battle groups established to reinforce the Eastern flank.
