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Mr Orbán said Hungary is a loyal and committed member of NATO, recalling that 1,300 Hungarian soldiers are currently taking part in various NATO missions.
He added that Hungary was one of the few countries that met all NATO obligations: its defence expenditures are above two per cent of the gross domestic product and the country reaches or even exceeds the 20 per cent capability development target.
He said Hungary also performs air policing duties for Slovakia and Slovenia, and from time to time in the Baltic states as well.
He added that Hungary’s NATO contact point embassy played an important role in relations with countries in Central Asia and Africa.
Mr Orbán said Hungary is able to reinforce NATO with these contributions, and will continue to honour these undertakings also in the future.
The Prime Minister praised Jens Stoltenberg who – in his view – has a high reputation in Hungary because during his term in office as secretary general, cooperation between NATO and Hungary has gained in strength.
Regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war, he said it is widely known that Hungary’s position is different from that of the majority of NATO Member States, and accepts that the weight and number of opinions different from its own are significant.
Hungary had the opportunity to state its position at every forum, but it must realise that it does not have the ability or the strength to change opinions in large numbers that are different from its own, he laid down.
He said at Wednesday’s talks, Hungary made it clear that it does not wish to block decisions in NATO which may be different from the reasonable decisions that would follow from our assessment of the situation, but are decisions shared and urged by the other Member States.
He highlighted that Hungary had received from Mr Stoltenberg the guarantees that it had requested; namely that all military operations outside NATO territories can only be organised on a voluntary basis.
He recalled that at the latest EP elections held in Hungary, the most important question to be decided was the question of war and peace. Members of the Hungarian public gave the government a mandate to ensure that Hungary will not take part in military operations outside the territory of NATO, he stated.
In answer to a question about what the guarantees are that Hungary will not be forced into the war in the future either, Mr Orbán said there are two guarantees: one of them is the Hungarian government, the other one is the NATO secretary general.
He said Hungary received a guarantee in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war that it will not be required to take part in any military operation outside the territory of the country, will not be required to provide either money or men for the purposes of the war, and that Hungary’s territory cannot be used for any involvement in the war.
Mr Orbán said the documents of NATO make it clear that participation in any mission outside the allied territories can only be voluntary.
Hungary does not want to and is unable to change the decision of the other 31 Member States; at the same time, NATO accepted and acknowledged through the secretary general that Hungary wants to make full use of the scope for manoeuvre afforded by the statutes of the alliance, he said.
He added that we had received everything we needed for the settlement of all outstanding issues, the talks with the secretary general had been constructive, and a fair agreement had been reached.
