Speaking at a press briefing held after the meeting of the defence ministers of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC), Minister of Defence István Simicskó emphasized that the security of the Central European region is the guarantee of Europe’s future.
István Simicskó said that the cooperation consisting of Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland in observer status is an exemplary one. He said that he and his counterparts agreed to further develop their defence capabilities in order to be able to more effectively protect European values and the Schengen border.
According to the minister, the CEDC is exemplary also because they have not only formulated goals but, in a unique way, they have also prepared a joint action plan so they can assist each other in times of emergency.
During their discussions that had already started on Tuesday, the defence ministers of seven countries reviewed the security situation along with threats such as mass illegal migration and terrorism. István Simicskó said that he and his counterparts agreed that we must prepare ourselves for a prolonged migration crisis.
In connection with this, at the meeting István Simicskó offered Hungary as the venue of a border security and international migration crisis management exercise in 2019, which would be similar to the border control exercise hosted by Croatia in 2017.
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