Defence Minister on missile acquisition: Peace requires strength

Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky represented Hungary at the Paris Air Defence Conference, where France, Estonia, Belgium, Cyprus and Hungary signed an agreement to jointly procure Mistral short-range surface-to-air defence missiles.

In a video uploaded to his Facebook on the joint declaration of intent, the Defence Minister said that "air defence is of the utmost importance for the security of all of us". He added that in his speech, in addition to the importance of air defence, French President Emmanuel Macron specifically underlined the importance of the European defence industry.

"Hungary is doing well in this field, our defence industry is developing. Peace requires strength, and we will keep working", the Minister stressed.

The five European countries have agreed to purchase "hundreds of Mistral missiles". The Mistral surface-to-air missiles are manufactured by the European multinational company MBDA.

For more details of the agreement, see this article.