Secretary of Defense William Cohen (right) stands with Hungarian Defense Minister Gyorgy Keleti (left) as military honors are rendered during welcoming ceremonies in Budapest, July 10, 1997. Cohen visited Hungary, in part, to congratulate them on being selected as one of the three former Soviet Bloc nations to be offered NATO membership at the just completed NATO summit held in Madrid, Spain. The other part of his message was that much remains to be done to insure that Hungary is capable of assuming the responsibilities that accompany the privileges of NATO membership. Secretary Cohen held meetings with the nation's senior leadership to pledge U.S. support for their efforts to modernize their military, but Minister Keleti warned that "We have to set our priorities right." Given the primary requirement of economic stability, Keleti suggested that it could take eight to 10 years for Hungary's forces to be fully compatible with those of other NATO nations.