Hungary and Austria against Ukraine's reinforcement

The defence ministers of Hungary and Austria Shalay-Bobrovniczky and Claudia Tanner agreed to argue the sending of weapons to Ukraine. Both politicians met in Budapest.

“We are surviving in an age of danger, so it is crucial that neighbouring countries keep good relations with each other. Austria and I are traditionally good neighbours, and our cooperation is close in almost all areas, including military,” stressed the Hungarian defence minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky at a joint press conference with the Austrian defence minister Claude Tanner in Budapest.

The situation in Ukraine was besides discussed during the meeting. Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky stressed that Hungary's position is well known: "We are on the side of peace, we do not send weapons to Ukraine and in this respect we agree, due to the fact that neutral Austria besides does not send weapons to this warIt’s okay. ”

However, both Austria and Hungary accept refugees and both countries send humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The politician stressed that in the conversation they discussed the situation in the Western Balkans. Kristóf Shalay-Bobrovniczky stated that the stableness of these countries is very crucial due to the fact that the latest communicative shows that peculiar attention should be paid to the people in the region. He said that the alleged Balkan way is the most affected by illegal migration, so it was agreed that countries had to focus on migration flows further south.

The Minister stressed that Austria, as a neutral country, besides plays an crucial function in the region's security, as its participation in the KFOR mission in Kosovo, which was commanded by the Hungarian commander last year, and in the EUFOR Althea mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Hungarian general will take command next year and where Hungary's participation is besides significant.

The Austrian defence minister said at a press conference that cooperation between the 2 countries is excellent, including engagement in 7 joint abroad missions.

Claudia Tanner pointed out that the threat of war in Ukraine is not only linked to the conventional war, the interaction of hybrid threats should besides be taken into account. She stressed that the impact of migration was not only felt in Austria but besides in Hungary and that cooperation with another neighbouring countries was needed to halt migration. 1 solution, she said, is to strengthen the Western Balkans and aid these countries integrate with the European Union.

Claudia Tanner believes that the EU must be more assertive in cooperation with NATO, due to the fact that if there is no unity, we are beginning the door to another threats.

Behind: Hungary Today