Lieutenant General Ferenc Kajári
14:33 May 9, 2023Lieutenant General Ferenc Kajári was born on 5th July 1967 in Budapest, Hungary. He is married to Veronika and has a daughter and a son.
Upon graduating from the military secondary school, he joined the Kossuth Lajos Military College of the Hungarian Defence Forces in 1985. He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1988 with an armoured reconnaissance officer degree and a general engineer degree.
Between 1988 and 1996, Major General Kajári served in various Infantry Brigades and MI positions as a platoon leader, company commander, S2 staff officer and Brigade S2.
In 1996, he was assigned to the Hungarian Engineer Contingent of IFOR and served as an S2 and liaison officer in the staff. On completion of his deployment, his career continued at the Ministry of Defence, where he served in a number of positions, most notably as the Aide-de-Camp to the Deputy State Secretary for NATO Integration. In 1998 he was selected to deploy in one of the newly established Partnership for Peace staff positions, and was assigned to the Headquarters of SACLANT, where he served in the PfP staff element until Hungary’s NATO accession in 1999 when he repositioned to serve in the Education and Training Department until his return to Hungary in 2001.
From 2001 he was serving in different staff positions at the J2 Directorate of the Hungarian Defence Forces. In the same year he enrolled to the National Defence University, and in 2004 earned his Master’s degree in military leadership.
In 2004 he deployed to Darfur as an EU representative and Military Observer of the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS), where by the second half of his tour he organised the S2 section in his sector and became the sector S2 chief. In 2007 he deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as the first Hungarian Chief CJ2, ACOS in RC-North of ISAF.
Between 2014 and 2015 he attended the General Staff Course of the National University of Public Service, where he earned the “ZRÍNYI Award” of the class of 2015.
In 2016 he was appointed as the director of the Military National Security Service Intelligence Directorate. In 2017 he was promoted to Brigadier General, and in 2021 to Major General, and in 2023 to Lieutenant General.
2021 marks his most noted tour as he was selected and deployed to the position of Commander of the NATO mission KFOR until the hand-over in 2022 when he continued his service as the director of the Military National Security Service Intelligence Directorate until his promotion to which took up to his new assignment to Deputy Chief of Defence Staff on 8th May 2023
![7](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/6377532742c50974374449.jpg)
Brigadier General József Szpisják is the new KFOR Deputy Commander
10:40 November 18, 2022
On 14 November, Italian Brigadier General Luca Piperni relinquished his position of KFOR deputy commander to Hungarian Brigadier General József Szpisják during a Transfer of Authority ceremony in Camp Film City, Pristina, Kosovo.
![LALA7647](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/637750f3df1f2719920673.jpg)
Defence planning in focus
10:30 November 18, 2022
On Thursday, 17 November, Lieutenant General Zsolt Sándor, Deputy Commander, Hungarian Defence Forces received in his office an American delegation from the Institute for Security Governance.
![D_NOE20221117001](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/63774fd7c980c887276006.jpg)
Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky: strengthening defence capabilities is now a priority for all international alliances
10:26 November 18, 2022
The events of the last few days also demonstrate that currently all international alliances consider the strengthening of defence capabilities a priority, stated Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in Jerusalem, after holding a discussion with Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz.
![allamfo-miniszter_izrael](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/637614f2a1959406421900.jpg)
Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky: we have seen the Israeli anti-rocket system Iron Dome in action
12:01 November 17, 2022
On Wednesday, 16 November, President of Hungary Katalin Novák and Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky saw the Israeli anti-rocket system Iron Dome in action.
![V4_VKF_Szlovakia 6](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/637613be67e7b048047582.jpg)
Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi: cooperation among Visegrád Four countries is important
11:37 November 17, 2022
For Hungary, the Visegrád Group is an important regional framework of defence cooperation. Due to the ongoing war in our immediate neighborhood, the defence policy and military cooperation of the V4 countries has outstanding significance, stated Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi PhD, Commander, Hungarian Defence Forces at the Chiefs of Defence of the Visegrád Group Meeting held between 14 and 16 November in Halič, Slovakia.
![EE1A1959](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/6374e0085abcf547603288.jpg)
Hungarian Puma jumps to the next level
14:04 November 16, 2022
The exercise series based on cooperation between the No. 99 Squadron Royal Air Force (RAF) and the HDF Pápa Air Base has reached another milestone: the airmen of the unit had the opportunity to demonstrate their skills during a spectacular training event.
![Brüsszel (2)](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/6374da0c0e52b571026657.jpg)
Hungarian armed forces development contributes to strengthening European defence capabilities
13:38 November 16, 2022
Already under way since 2016, the large-scale development of the Hungarian armed forces actively contributes to the strengthening of European defence capabilities and the European defence industry, stated Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in Brussels on Tuesday, 15 November.
![pakisztani delegacio 01](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/636e23494a6f6512379336.jpg)
Pakistani military delegation received in the Ministry of Defence
11:22 November 11, 2022
On Thursday, 10 November Dr. Gáspár Maróth, MoD State Secretary for Defence Policy and Development signed an agreement on cooperation in the Ministry of Defence with Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan, Defence State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Pakistan.
![fokuszban ukrjna es a balkan](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/636e201c89959490433549.jpg)
In focus: Ukraine and the Balkans
11:09 November 11, 2022
On 8–9 November, Defence Policy Directors from the members states (Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Poland in observer status) of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) met in Reichenau an der Rax, Austria. Hungary was represented at the event by MoD Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy László Hajnik.
![közös gyakorlat nyitó](https://defence.hu/media/cache/width_465/images/media/636cf47629be5327416857.jpg)
Start of the joint exercise
13:53 November 10, 2022
This year’s exercise of the Hungarian–Romanian Mixed Peacekeeping Battalion began with a ceremonial parade in the Hódmezővásárhely barracks on Tuesday, 8 November.