Defence minister: Hungary monitoring Kurdistan situation

Hungary is monitoring the situation in Kurdistan closely and if military tensions escalate, it has a number of contingency plans in place, István Simicskó, the defence minister, told parliament’s defence committee on Thursday.

The minister was asked by the committee’s head to respond to “a new situation” concerning the international coalition’s fight against the Islamic State terrorist organisation and developments around Iraqi Kurdish autonomy endeavours.

Hungary coordinates with its allies in the region on a regular basis, Simicskó said. Hungarian troops are deployed in the Kirkuk area — where Iraqi soldiers are in armed deadlock with Kurdish forces — but

only in regions where combat is unlikely, he said. 

Assessing the Hungarian army‘s performance over the past year, Simicskó said heightened measures were in place to ensure Hungary is among the safest countries in the world, noting the army’ role in protecting Hungary’s borders and the deployment of about 1,000 troops serving in foreign missions.

More soldiers are now serving in missions in the Balkan region, he said, adding Hungary’s two biggest contingents are based in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. He noted that with parliament’s approval, the mandate of Hungary’s mission fighting ISIS as part of the international coalition in Iraq had been extended and its staff and powers increased.

Simicskó further noted that in line with the country’s obligation to NATO, the government had decided to increase central defence spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2024, adding that its exact timeline would be submitted to NATO by the end of 2017.