Current presidency

In 2024, the CEDC Presidency is held by Hungary.

Hungary holds the Presidency of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) for the second time between 1 January and 31 December 2024. Given that the security of the Central European region is inseparable from the security of the Western Balkan states, the need to strengthen relations with the Western Balkan partners has become increasingly prominent in the agendas of CEDC Presidencies in recent years. The Hungarian CEDC presidency will also place great emphasis on further broadening the high-level dialogue and practical cooperation between the two groups of countries and on supporting the European integration of the Western Balkan countries.

In order to ensure continuity between presidencies, we will build on the continuation of the programmes initiated under previous presidencies. One of the most significant of these is the project initiated and led by Austria to establish the Western Balkans Security and Defence Academy, which aims to provide uniform training and education for the armed forces of the Western Balkan countries based on European values, thus improving the resilience and interoperability of the region and promoting regional cooperation.

During our Presidency, we organise two meetings between our Defence Policy Directors, one of them is in CEDC+Western Balkans format. We also invite our Western Balkan partners to the annual meeting of Defence Ministers. In addition to regular meetings, we plan to launch new initiatives. One of these will be a study on the security situation in the Western Balkans, focusing on the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the region.

The CBRN Surveillance as a Service (CBRN SaaS) is one of the flagship projects of the CEDC countries in the framework of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Considering that the project is planned to reach initial operational capability by 2024, this is a good opportunity to organise discussions on the way forward and an expert workshop is planned. Hungary is coordinating the development of the Regional Special Operations Component Command (R-SOCC), a multinational cooperation framework nation, which is expected to reach full operational capability by the second half of 2024. Given that the countries participating in the development of the R-SOCC capability are all CEDC Member States, the special operations area also offers a good opportunity for cooperation between CEDC countries, the possibilities of which will also be explored in an expert workshop.

The CEDC high level consultations have so far been limited to the defence policy side (Defence Policy Directors and Defence Ministers). Extending the regional defence dialogue to Chiefs of Defence could contribute to further deepen CEDC cooperation and identify new practical cooperation projects, and we are planning to organise an informal CEDC Chiefs of Defence Dinner during our Presidency.

Joint crisis management exercises have been one of the most visible elements of cooperation between CEDC countries in the past. That is why we also want to involve the CEDC countries in our high-visibility military exercise, Brave Warrior, organised in parallel with the EU Integrated Resolve exercise.