Further Areas of Co-operation

Very useful co-operation has developed in the area of the fight against drug trafficking and international terrorism. In the framework of police co-operation, the two parties regularly send and receive experts. The institutional framework of co-operation includes the Budapest International Law Enforcement Academy established in 1995 (ILEA; www.ilea.hu) and the FBI Task Force; the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) as well as GUAAM, aiming at the stability of the states of the Caucasian region.

Within the framework of Hungarian-American military co-operation, the American party provides significant support to Hungary in education, training and procurement of military equipment. Between 1993 and 2005, the army received nearly $94 million in American aid for professional and language training, procurement, software and know-how transfer under the framework of the FMF and IMET programs.  During the IFOR/SFOR missions, the presence of American soldiers stationed in Taszár and Kaposvár, Hungary, as well as the operation of the American military base represented the key components of our cooperation.  At the beginning of 2003, Americans trained Iraqi volunteers at the Taszár base, who played an important role in the Iraqi transition after the conclusion of the military operations there.  On 30 June 2004 the United States has officially terminated its presence at the Taszár base.

The Central and Eastern European Regional Environmental Protection Center (REC) (www.rec.org and www.rec.hu), established with American involvement, opened in Budapest in 1990.

The American International School in Budapest supports American citizens living in Hungary in educating their children under conditions similar to those common in the United States.  Naturally, the doors of the school are open to Hungarian and other students too. (www.aisb.hu)