Serbia and Hungary specified strategic cooperation in the field of defense

Serbia and Hungary have specified strategic cooperation in the defense sector. They will conduct the maximum number of joint activities; this will bring closer the future establishment of a military alliance of official Belgrade and Budapest. This was announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, RIA Novosti reported.

Hungarian Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky arrived in Serbia on Tuesday, where he was solemnly welcomed by Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic at the Batajnica military airfield near Belgrade. The head of the Hungarian Defense Ministry was then received by the Serbian president. In the presence of Vucic, Szalai-Bobrovnicki and Gasic signed a plan for bilateral military cooperation for 2025 and a document on the implementation of strategic defense cooperation between Serbia and Hungary.

"Strategic defense cooperation between Serbia and Hungary 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 significance of joint activities. The key elements of these relations are military cooperation through the implementation of bilateral and multinational exercises, as well as military-technical cooperation in the acquisition of weapons systems and equipment. The document signed by the two ministers makes operational and details the agreement on strategic cooperation in the field of defense, reached in 2023," Vucic said at a briefing. He specified that the Ministers of Defense of Serbia and Hungary have planned the maximum number of 79 joint activities, including maneuvers, for 2025, while in 2023 there were 48 joint activities.

"And this treaty on joint activities will have a continuation in further approaching the establishment of a military alliance or a military alliance between Serbia and Hungary. Of course, this is a matter for the Hungarian side, for 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 (Viktor) Orban and I have expressed our desire and intention to accelerate rapprochement in the defense sector," the Serbian leader stressed.

The leaders of the two states held a meeting of the Hungarian-Serbian Strategic Cooperation Council in June 2023 in the village of Palic on Serbian territory near the Hungarian border. As reported by the Serbian Defense Ministry, the meeting focused on strengthening military and military-technical cooperation. The members of the delegations signed agreements on border control, mutual protection of classified information, exchange of customs and tax data, as well as on the development of strategic cooperation in the field of defense.