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Ukraine voices desire to join V4 military corps

13 June 2014 03:01 (UTC +04:00)

Hungarian Chief of Staff Tibor Benko announced the move at a media briefing following the two-day meeting of V4+Ukraine military leaders on Thursday at Balatonoszod, about 100 kilometers from Budapest, according to Hungarian News Agency MTI.

The chiefs of staff of the V4 countries plan to recommend that their governments officially invite Ukraine to join the military corps, Benko said.

The V4 intend to conduct V4-EU military exercises to connect with NATO's Trident Juncture exercise in 2015 and its Response Forces exercise in 2016.

Benko pointed out that cooperation with Ukraine had always been close. While it is not a NATO member, Ukraine has participated in Partnership for Peace initiatives, he said.

"There is no doubt that when Ukraine needs support, we will jointly provide it," he said.

Kutsyn said that European security was currently undergoing a "pressure test" following Russia's moves.

"Our job now is to be heard and resolve the security problems together with our friends," he added.