Viktor Orban signs off on allowing additional NATO troops to station in Hungary

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto visits NATO and meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (2018)

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Hungary will now allow NATO troops to deploy into the west of the country, reversing an earlier stance of not allowing additional troops from the defence alliance other than its own to be stationed within its territory. Prime Minister Viktor Orban signed a decree to admit the NATO Response Force onto Hungarian territory on Monday. It also permits weapons shipments to cross its territory to other NATO members, but not to Ukraine.

Hungary has allowed shipments of non-lethal goods – for example, medical supplies and humanitarian supplies – to cross into Ukraine. However, the decree reaffirms Budapest’s prohibition of NATO forces directly entering Ukraine from Hungary.

Earlier, Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjárto said Budapest would not accept additional NATO troops on its soil, explaining that Hungary’s forces were “in proper shape to guarantee the security of the country”. The intention of Prime Minister Orban, who has cultivated a very close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the last decade, is to keep Hungary neutral despite it being an EU member state and member of NATO.

Meanwhile, the European Union recently announced it would provide EUR 500 million of military equipment and humanitarian supplies to Ukraine’s military.

Source: Al Jazeera, Euronews, Hungary Today

CET Editor