12 September 2024

In the framework of the parliamentary cooperation of the Hungarian presidency, the Hungarian National Assembly organised the Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) on 9-10 September 2024. At the event Members of Parliaments from 24 EU Member States, from the European Parliament, representatives from 8 EU candidate countries, and also from the United Kingdom, Iceland and Kosovo* participated as observers. Zsolt Németh, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Lajos Kósa, Chair of the Committee on Defence and Law Enforcement of the Hungarian National Assembly co-hosted the conference. David McAllister, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament also served as co-chair. In his welcoming address János Latorcai, Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly highlighted that it is time for Europe not only to recognise its responsibility for its own security and defence, but also to take effective actions. According to him Europe can only be successful if it can find answers to crucial questions in the spirit of strategic autonomy.

Under the agenda item about the future Europe and the countries wishing to join the EU Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for the Neighbourhood and Enlargement presented the progress made in enlargement by the European Commission in recent years. According to his opinion EU enlargement is inevitable: " the question is not whether there will be enlargement, but when". On behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union János Bóka, Minister for European Union Affairs also mentioned the importance of strengthening the rights of national minorities in the context of enlargement.

On the topic of the priorities and current issues of the CSFP and CSDP Simon Mordue, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service summarised the challenges to EU security and highlighted the role of parliamentary diplomacy in building sustainable and future-proof partnerships. Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, vice president of the European Commission welcomed the participants of the conference by video message.

Under the agenda item about the protection of the external borders and illegal migration – after the presentation of a video on the situation at the Hungarian-Serbian border – Bence Rétvári, Deputy Minister for Interior said, among other things, that since 2015 Hungary has consistently placed the protection of the EU's external borders and the conduct of asylum procedures outside of the external borders at the heart of its migration policy. János Zoltán Kuczik, Deputy for the National Chief of Police presented police measures against illegal migrants, the technical infrastructure and the legal background of border protection in Hungary. He stressed that in order to ensure adequate border protection, it was necessary to increase the number of border police officers by 3,000, and then by a further 4,000. He also highlighted the importance of cooperation among police forces of different countries and the 5,600 police officers who have been deployed in the Balkans since 2015 in the framework of Frontex.

Under the fourth agenda item on geopolitical, strategic shifts in the world Péter Sztáray, State Secretary responsible for security policy and energy security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade drew attention to the importance of genuine, frank dialogues involving all parties concerned and of taking minority opinions into account when developing a common EU position. Pia Kauma, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly talked about the fact that the OSCE can provide a platform for dialogue in conflict situations. She said that Ukraine's territorial integrity and its right to self-defence are common goals with the EU. Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, member of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence of the European Parliament talked about the impact of the changing balance of major powers, and of new technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology) on the transformation of the international world order.

The participants of the conference also exchanged views on the implications of indiscriminate Russian attacks on Ukrainian economy and infrastructure.

Zsolt Németh and Lajos Kósa stressed the importance of dialogue between national parliaments and openness to learn about each other's different positions. Zsolt Németh referred to the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the international world order, and in his concluding words he said that the strategic objectives of the various European political forces in the common foreign, security and defence policy are essentially the same, there are only differences and divergences of a "tactical nature". In relation to the themes of the conference, the co-chairs adopted a joint declaration.

More information on the Conference can be found here.

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* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.