19th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security forum – Official Opening
László Kövér, Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly called the information superiority of democratic states and thus their advantage in action against non-democratic states, organised private powers and terrorist and criminal groups vital. Security has now become a primary competitive factor in all aspects of life, and therefore opponents seeking to undermine one’s competitiveness will also seek to undermine that actor’s security. As the events in Kabul today show, it can be a matter of life and death whether intelligence is providing wrong or even false information to decision-makers, and whether politicians are using intelligence information as intended, or for manipulation or are deliberately ignoring it. Military, financial and technological superiority alone is not sufficient if it is not combined with information superiority that can be used in policy-making, or if policy-makers do not make appropriate use of the information they obtain. The Speaker stressed that the exciting questions of the future are whether states and their intelligence and security services will remain competitive in the world’s information wars, and whether people and societies will be the winners or the victims of technological progress. He expressed his conviction that international politics in the coming decades will be defined by the competition and clashes between states as public powers and private powers organised above them. He added that he was confident that the rivalry would eventually lead to cooperation. As a consequence, not only politicians but also the intelligence or security community will have to decide whether they want to serve public or private interests/powers. As it is not legitimate that those working in the political or intelligence-security services of public power should serve the interests of private powers, just as those working for private powers are not expected by their clients to serve the interests of public powers and the common good.
