The Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade’s director, Márton Ugrósdy took part on the 57th Leangkollen Security Conference in Oslo. The high-level conference, which was held in the historic Aula of the University of Oslo has covered the transatlantic challenges emanating from the war in Ukraine. In his remarks, Dr. Ugrósdy underlined that Central Europe is the hostage of its history and geography as far as Russia is concerned, and these experiences are driving the reactions of the Visegrád Four countries as well. All Central European countries are spending more on defense, and Hungary will also reach the two percent pledge in the very near future. Talking about the EU sanctions against Russia, Márton highlighted the different levels of exposure of Central European countries’ energy sectors to Russia, emphasizing that current concerns are not of political, but purely economic nature.
Photos by: Beatrice C. Berg Sæthre