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
Defence Minister Tibor Benkő receives Latvia’s foreign minister on a courtesy call
15:34 November 8, 2021
On Monday, 8 November, on the occasion of the centenary of diplomatic cooperation between Hungary and Latvia, Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő received Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgard Rinkēvičs in Budapest. At their meeting, besides today’s security challenges, the ministers also discussed current issues of allied cooperation between the two countries.
Sharpening the sword of the alligator, at the threshold of the ”Alligator Sword 21” exercise
14:00 November 8, 2021
Before its departure, the outgoing personnel of the Headquarters Multinational Division – Centre took part in the last preparation in the first week of November at Alba Regia barracks in Székesfehérvár. The drill, known in NATO terminology as ”Battle Staff Training”, focused on the tasks of deployed personnel, which is going to be relocated to Germany within days.
Defence Minister Tibor Benkő holds discussion with his Austrian counterpart
09:34 November 5, 2021
On Thursday, 4 November Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő received Austrian Defence Minister in the framework of a border meeting in Sopronbánfalva. During the official meeting, the two sides discussed the European security situation and its future, the common challenges, the forms of bilateral military cooperation and, last but not least, the tasks connected with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tibor Benkő receives Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Africa on a courtesy call
11:07 November 4, 2021
On Wednesday, 3 November Defence Minister Tibor Benkő received General Christopher G. Cavoli, Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe and Africa on a courtesy call. Besides the selection and training of soldiers, the commanding general discussed current security issues with the minister of defence. During his two-day visit, General Cavoli also had a discussion with Major General Zsolt Sándor, Deputy Commander, Hungarian Defence Forces and participated in a panel at the National University of Public Service.
Serbian and Hungarian Chiefs of Defence meet in Belgrade
10:53 November 4, 2021
Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi PhD, Commander, Hungarian Defence Forces recently attended a two-day meeting of chiefs of defence in Serbia. During the discussions, besides the current security situation of the region, the two sides also talked about the Hungarian COMKFOR’s tasks, as well as the coronavirus pandemic and the migration crisis.
Cooperation for the security of Europe
16:43 November 3, 2021
On 3 November, US Major General (Ret.) Barre R. Seguin, Director, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies paid a visit to Hungary. He met and held discussions with the leaders of the Ministry of Defence and the Hungarian Defence Forces Command.
Monument in the “hell within hell”
14:07 November 3, 2021
“We must remember and remind to ensure that such horrors never occur again”, said Defence Minister Tibor Benkő at the inauguration of a WWI memorial site for Hungarian soldiers in Nova Gorica, Slovenia on 2 November.
Defence Minister Tibor Benkő discusses regional security with his Slovenian counterpart
14:04 November 3, 2021
Hungarian Defence Minister Tibor Benkő and Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin held a discussion in Ljubljana on Tuesday, 2 November.
Defence Minister Tibor Benkő discusses regional security with his Slovenian counterpart
13:44 November 3, 2021
Hungarian Defence Minister Tibor Benkő and Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin held a discussion in Ljubljana on Tuesday, 2 November.
OPS seminar for Exercise Alligator Sword 2021
17:10 October 28, 2021
In the lead of the 1 German/Netherlands Corps (1GNC), the staff of Headquarters Multinational Division - Centre (HQ MND-C) took part in a two-day operations seminar to discuss the tasks related to exercise 'ALLIGATOR SWORD 2021' in Alba Regia barracks in Székesfehérvár during the last week of October.