The Participation of Hungarian and Italian Armed Forces in International Missions and Operations

Abstract

It is beyond doubt that in today’s security environment Italy is one of the major stakeholders when it comes to participation in missions and operations. The aim of this  essay is to examine if the often used expression  presenzialismo is also applicable to Hungary’s participation.  With the method of overviewing the  contributions to the missions and operations of the main  international organisations, the goal is to prove whether  Hungary’s participation is or is not comparable to Italy’s  actions in proportion to their respective power and  opportunities. One of the main findings is that the two  countries’ areas of interest are almost identical. They also share a common view that they consider NATO as the main  partner in safeguarding the security of the transatlantic  region. There is a kind of reform ongoing in the armed  forces of both nations, but these shall not result in the  weakening of the participation in missions and operations.  Nevertheless, Italy’s participation is way too more conspicuous; we found that Hungary does not fall short  significantly of Italy’s contribution proportionately.