Serbia and Hungary have specified strategic cooperation in the field of defense in 2025, and will hold as many joint events as possible, which will bring the future creation of a military alliance between Belgrade and Budapest closer, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.
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Hungarian Defense Minister Krystof Szalai-Bobrownicki arrived in Serbia on Tuesday, where he was solemnly met by Serbian Defense Minister Bratislava Hasic at the Batajnica military airfield near Belgrade. Then the head of the Hungarian Defense Ministry was received by the President of Serbia. In the presence of Vucicasalai, Bobrownicki and Hasic signed a plan for bilateral military cooperation for 2025 and a document on the implementation of strategic defense cooperation between Serbia and Hungary.
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“The strategic cooperation between Serbia and Hungary in the field of defense is one of the most important aspects of our comprehensive strategic cooperation. Of all the countries in the region, Serbia has the most developed and intensive defense cooperation with Hungary in terms of the number and importance of joint activities. The key elements of these relations are military cooperation through the implementation of bilateral and multinational exercises, military–technical cooperation on the acquisition of weapons systems and facilities. The document, which was signed by the two ministers, makes operational and specifies the agreement on strategic cooperation in the field of defense, reached in 2023,” Vucic said at a briefing.
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He clarified that the Ministries of Defense of Serbia and Hungary have planned the maximum number so far for 2025 – 79 joint events, including maneuvers, and in 2023 there were 48.
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“And this agreement on joint activities will be continued as we move closer to the creation of a military alliance or military alliance between Serbia and Hungary. Of course, this issue depends on the Hungarian side, the Hungarian and Serbian parliaments. But our relations are so good, especially considering how and what is happening in Europe and the world, Prime Minister (Victor) Orban and I have expressed our desire and intention to accelerate the rapprochement in the field of defense,” the Serbian leader stressed.
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In June 2023, the leaders of the two countries held a meeting of the Strategic Council for cooperation between Serbia and Hungary in the village of Palic on Serbian territory near the Hungarian border. As reported by the Serbian Defense Ministry, it was about strengthening military and military-technical cooperation. The members of the delegations signed agreements on the control of border traffic, on the mutual protection of classified information, on the exchange of customs and tax service data, as well as on the development of strategic cooperation in the field of defense.
