NATO defence ministers asked the alliance's secretary-general to make plans for the reform of NATO command structure within the next three months, Hungary's Defence Minister Imre Szekeres said on Friday.

Attending a two-day informal meeting of NATO ministers in Istanbul, Szekeres said the decision had been initiated by several countries, among them Hungary.

The reform of NATO commands, established at the time of the Cold War, would involve cutting staff as well as tasks. It would open opportunities for Hungary, Szekeres told MTI over the phone, adding that Hungary is expected to delegate two generals to the modernised NATO commands.

The reform would greatly reduce the costs of NATO, he said adding that there was a pressing need for austerity, as the deficit of the NATO budget would exceed 600 million euros this year.

The defence ministers accepted a NATO operational instruction, introducing the concept of the "golden hour". Accordingly, any soldier injured in Afghanistan should receive advanced hospital care in less than an hour.

Szekeres said the directives and methodology of the instruction would be worked out by NATO's Centre of Excellence for Military Medicine, set up in Budapest last autumn.

The minister said that this year Hungary would contribute to the success of the Afghanistan mission with an air mentor team, training local helicopter pilots.