Szijjarto: Hungary to boost role in Afghanistan, Kosovo

Hungary will take a larger role in NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, in line with its pledge made to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the foreign minister told Hungarian journalists in Brussels on Wednesday. Hungary will reassign most of its troops who are soon demobilising from the United Nations Cyprus peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan and Kosovo, Peter Szijjarto said after a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers. The country will boost its number of troops by 40 to 106 in Afghanistan and send an additional 60 troops to Kosovo by next summer, he said. Hungary will in addition maintain its annual contribution of 500,000 dollars to support defence forces in Afghanistan, Szijjarto said, noting the government's decision to extend the funding until 2024.