Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres and Dragan Sutanovac, Minister of Defence of Serbia signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement between the Republic of Hungary and Serbia on 22 March in Belgrade. The bilateral agreement comprises 17 articles which provide a framework for the joint training of the two nation’s military units as well as for cooperation in joint control of airspace, EOD and disaster relief operations.

Upon the signing of the document Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres stated that Hungary fully supports Serbia’s efforts to join the European Union. The ongoing defence reform in the country is one of the priority areas during the pre-accession period where Serbia has already achieved significant results. The Hungarian Minister of Defence said that promoting stability and development in the Balkans as a whole is our national interest. To attain that goal, Hungary contributes troops to KFOR in Kosovo.

The scaling down of KFOR may be implemented provided that all conditions are met, but Hungary’s troop presence will remain unchanged. Dr. Imre Szekeres stated that two-thirds of all Hungarian troops deployed in peacekeeping missions abroad do their tour of duty in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Dragan Sutanovac stated that the two countries’ MoDs maintain a high level of cooperation, adding that Serbia expects Hungary to assist in the establishment of the professional Serbian military by sharing all relevant experiences with Serbia.

In the course of his one-day program Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres visited the Topcider Barracks and had talks on security matters in the region, the defence reform, international cooperation, participation in multinational missions and the related Serbian contributions.

In the Peace Mission Training Center Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres delivered a lecture on the transformation of the Hungarian Defence Forces, Hungary’s experiences about accession to the EU and NATO and the HDF participation in international missions. The Hungarian delegation visited the Military Medical Academy as well.

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