On July 30 Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas met with Minister of Defence of Hungary Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky conducting a visit to Lithuania to thank him for the contribution to the efforts to strengthen security in the region. The Hungarian Air Force will guarding the Baltic airspace ensuring the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states for the next four months.
The Hungarian airmen deployed to Šiauliai for the third Hungary’s rotation of the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltics with four JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. A. Anušauskas underscored Hungary’s participation in the NATO Air Policing Mission was a weighty sign of solidarity.
At the meeting, Ministers briefed each other on the countries’ assistance to Ukraine. According to A. Anušauskas, the support from across NATO must come enduring, unconditional and sustained, as it was committed to at the NATO Summit in Madrid back in June.
“It is our moral obligation to ensure military equipment and military personnel training assistance to Ukraine. Hungary was in the spearhead of the fight against totalitarianism in 1956, that is where Ukraine is today. We need to come to a clear understanding that if we don’t make the aggressor stop in Ukraine, we will face it in our homelands. This war ends in a good way for all of us only in line with Ukraine’s conditions,” Minister of National Defence said.
A. Anušauskas underscored to K. Szalay-Bobrovniczky that the decision made at the NATO Summit to enhance the forward defence in the eastern flank of NATO and to recognize Russia as the most significant and direct threat to NATO was a unanimous decision of all Allies.
Hungary is a NATO Ally that has bilateral defence cooperation with Lithuania dating back to 1997. It constantly contributes to the efforts to strengthen the security in Lithuania and the region with military personnel deployed to training exercises in Lithuania.
The Hungarian Air Force Detachment has deployed to Lithuania for the third time: the country has already conducted the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states in 2015 and 2019. Hungary also contributes to the activities of the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) in Vilnius.
