Two Hungarian Gripen fighter jets were scrambled on September 25 from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, NATO Air Command reported on September 25.

The jets intercepted a formation of Russian aircraft—including a Su-30, a Su-35, and three MiG-31s—flying near Latvian airspace.

  • protist@mander.xyz
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    2 days ago

    Seems like these planes were under NATO command, so while Hungary gets credit for participating in NATO, their national government played no role in this specific action

    • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Still they are honoring their NATO commitment, despite they have behaved very pro Russian for years.

      Compared to USA that is very good on Hungary. USA even promised to protect Ukraine when Ukraine gave up their nukes, and Trump has completely abandoned that promise.

      • protist@mander.xyz
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        2 days ago

        Has he? I’m clearly not a Trump fan, but the US remains the largest NATO contributor by a very significant margin, and the US is still supporting Ukraine, despite all Trump’s bluster. Again I’m in no way defending Trump, but I don’t understand how you can praise Hungary and condemn the US in this situation where the US has committed so much more toward the defense of Europe

        Edit: Ukraine is beside the point. Trump has definitely fucked that up. We’re talking about NATO here.

        • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          the US remains the largest NATO contributor

          Nope, there are no NATO contributors. USA spend more on military for their own purposes.
          And they are far behind Europe as a contributor to Ukraine if that’s what you meant. What they gave was under Biden. And even then USA held back a lot, with strict limitations on how the weapons could be used, which made it impossible for Ukraine to win.
          Ukraine is actually doing better now without aid from USA, because the limitations are irrelevant now. If USA had helped like Europe does, the war would probably be over now.

          the US is still supporting Ukraine

          Only with things that doesn’t cost any money.
          On the contrary USA is charging allies 10% EXTRA for weapons we buy for Ukraine.

          Again I’m in no way defending Trump

          Yes you are and it’s outright sickening that people have that opinion that is directly contrary to reality.
          I praised Hungary for an actual act of solidarity, something we aren’t seeing from USA since Trump became president.
          Trump even illegally stopped shipments of weapons to Ukraine that were approved by congress, which is not legal for the president to do, and he did it to help Putin!!!
          Most people in Europe despise Trump and Americans for electing him, and with good reason.

          • protist@mander.xyz
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            2 days ago

            Wait, why are we talking about Ukraine? Yes, Trump fucked a lot of things up there, but this is about NATO.

            Nope, there are no NATO contributors

            Uhhh…yeah there are. That’s the entire reason NATO exists, because NATO member states contribute military resources to NATO, which has its own command structure. That the US is the largest contributor to NATO is not arguable.

            • khannie@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              Well, NATO contributions are typically measured to include individual defence spending. In that case, as a percentage of GDP, the US is third. When PPP is taken into consideration though they’re further down.

              Of course the US spends more than any individual European country. That much is certain. It just doesn’t mean others aren’t pulling their weight.

              I think we’re all friends here. Yes the US spends more but they’re also the largest NATO member so that makes sense.

              Not sure how Ukraine got dragged in but yeah Europe is ahead there, appropriately, especially when you discount the value of the extorted minerals deal from US contributions.

              • protist@mander.xyz
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                2 days ago

                100% agree with everything you said here. I just took issue with the other gent’s sentiment, “At least Hungary upholds its NATO commitments, unlike the US.” That statement couldn’t be more false, even under the Trump Admin

        • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Countries don’t “contribute” to NATO, They contribute to their own military. NATO is basically a defense pact.

          • protist@mander.xyz
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            2 days ago

            I’m curious how you think NATO conducts operations if none of the member states contribute assets

            • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              … Are you fucking serious? You know I was gonna start typing but reading this and your other replies, you have serious learning to do.

          • protist@mander.xyz
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            2 days ago

            Definitely the case, I was talking about NATO though, not Ukraine. Trump has totally bungled the Ukraine response, even if the US line remains in support of them