Hungary will participate in training Iraqi security forces, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Tuesday, adding that discussions on the matter were proceeding with NATO. Gyurcsany indicated that the training unit intended would be smaller than the transport unit of 300 troops currently operating under U.S. command in Hillah south of Baghdad. Voting late Monday, the Hungarian parliament refused to extend the mission, in a move that will bring the troops home at the end of the year, as the current mandate lasts only until December 31. The conservative opposition opposed the extension, which required a two-thirds majority to pass. The liberal-socialist government coalition could muster only 191 votes to 159 against. Gyurcsany described the vote as "bad politics" and said it "looks like running away". The Hungarian government can dispatch troops to Iraq under the auspices of NATO without a parliamentary vote. Deployments for non-NATO missions - the U.S. led mission in Iraq is not being conducted within NATO - have to be passed by parliament.
