In Wesoła near Warsaw a celebration was held to mark the twentieth anniversary of the accession to NATO of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, and the fifteenth anniversary of Slovakia’s accession.
In his speech delivered at the event, Mr. Orbán highlighted that Hungary is engaging in military missions so that assistance is delivered to the people who need it and in the locations it is needed. “If we do not take help where it is needed in good time, then the problems will come to us,” he said.
The Prime Minister thanked the Visegrád countries for having helped to defend Hungary’s southern borders from migrants.
He noted that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established in order to create peace, security, stability and prosperity – first in the Euro-Atlantic region, and later worldwide. “These are also the values we want to preserve today,” he pointed out, adding that at present they are being taken to people living through civil wars.
According to the Prime Minister, “even in difficult missions our soldiers have held their own”.
He said that the economic strength of the Visegrád countries allows them to outperform their commitments as NATO members.
Mr. Orbán stressed that it has been many decades since the world was confronted with chaotic international situations and terrorist threats such as exist today, but in the fight against terrorism “we are not only taking part with words”, but also with soldiers. Today 692 Hungarian soldiers are serving in missions around the world, and soon another 130 will join them, he said.
He pointed out that Hungary wants to develop its defence forces to a level which enables it both to defend itself and to hold its own within NATO.
The Prime Minister also said that soldiers take an oath to protect their country, even at the cost of their own lives. He declared that to ensure peace and safety for one’s country and the civilisation and culture that sustains us is a goal for which it is worth taking even the greatest risk. He added that over its seventy-year history such soldiers have made NATO the most successful and strongest military alliance of all time, and this is how it must remain in the years ahead.
After the ceremony there was a presentation by military units.