Austria Interested in Our Defense Development and Joint Exercise

General Gábor Böröndi, Chief of the Defense Staff, held talks with his Austrian counterpart, General Rudolf Striedinger, in Salzburg last week. The talks focused on the new challenges of European security and the strengthening of bilateral military cooperation.

“Austria is in a complex geopolitical situation, being a member of the EU but not part of our defense alliance NATO. However, our western neighbor is taking the security challenges seriously,” General Böröndi explained following the meeting. The Austrian army is currently undergoing a major change of approach, with a renewed focus on territorial defense capabilities, honvedelem.hu reports. Their defense budget is to be increased to 2 percent of GDP by 2032, while modernizing air defenses, restocking ammunition depots, and developing the defense industry.

During the talks, General Böröndi invited Austrian observers to the “Breakthrough” exercise in November 2025, and they also agreed to organize a joint tank exercise.

The Austrian side offered to reopen the possibility of mountain troop training for Hungarian soldiers that would not only facilitate the exchange of professional experience, but also strengthen special operations cooperation.

The discussions also touched on the joint participation in the so-called PESCO innovations to enhance EU defense capabilities, and it was also mentioned that the Hungarian Lynx battalion and KC-390 transport aircraft will be visited by Austrian experts in the future.

Following the talks, the Chiefs of Staff attended an orchestra festival marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer), where the Hungarian Defense Forces Central Military Band was also represented.

Via honvedelem.hu, Featured image: honvedelem.hu