Rethinking Hungarian security policy
Rethinking Hungarian security policy

Summary/Abstract: In recent years, such significant changes have occurred in international politics, and in the security position of Hungary, that there is good reason to rethink Hungarian security policy. Hungary joined NATO on March 12, 1999, and the European Union on May 1, 2004. Euro-Atlantic integration has been one of the priorities of Hungarian foreign policy since the change of the country's political system. Since the turn of the millennium, Hungary's security position has improved significantly, while its geo-strategic role has gradually diminished. Among its neighbors, Slovakia has also become a NATO and EU member, while Romania is a NATO ally and an EU candidate. Their example may soon be followed by Croatia. Serbia-Montenegro intends to become part of the Partnership for Peace program of NATO, and a beneficiary of the EU Stabilization and Association Treaty. The importance of the Balkans is diminishing for NATO, as reflected in the transfer of peacekeeping operations in Bosnia to the EU in December 2004. Besides its already existing missions outside Europe, such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, NATO increasingly focuses its attention on the wider Middle East area, the Mediterranean basin, and Africa.[...]

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