The superiority of intelligence services and resulting ability for fast action is crucial for democratic states as opposed to non-democratic countries and terrorist organisations, Speaker of Parliament László Kövér told the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum held in Budapest. Security has become a primary factor in terms of competitiveness in all areas of life, Kövér said in his address in Parliament, and mentioned recent developments in Afghanistan, which showed that “it could be a matter of life and death if the intelligence services make mistakes or deliver false information to decision makers”. Military, financial, or technological advantages are not enough if they are not coupled with better intelligence for political decision making or if politicians fail to appropriately use the information received, he argued.
Former US congressman Robert Pittenger, the founder and president of the Forum, said that the United States considered international cooperation of countries of paramount importance, stressing that working together could make the intelligence services much more effective.
Marc Dillard, Chargé d’Affaires of the US embassy in Budapest, said it was important that the economic advantages of new technologies should be exploited, and warned that security should not be compromised for short-term economic advantages.