Major General Zoltán Somogyi
15:53 July 18, 2023Major General Zoltán Somogyi was born on 27th February 1974 in Fehérgyarmat. He began his military service in August 1992 at the Military Command Collage in Szentendre. He graduated as an artillery officer with a BSc in Land Surveying Engineering in 1996. He served 8 years in a various artillery officer assignments including 4 years as Battery Commander within the HDF 5th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 5th Self Propelled Artillery Battalion in Debrecen. During his artillery officer carrier, he successfully completed the Battery Commander Course of the German Bundeswehr and gathered experiences also in the field of rocket artillery. In 2003 he was deployed to the position of the 2nd Company Commander of the Hungarian Guard and Security Battalion, KFOR Kosovo and in 2004 he assumed command of the Hungarian Guard and Security Contingent, KFOR Skopje.
In 2007, he was appointed to the position of Hungarian Joint Force Command J3 Staff Officer in Székesfehérvár and he was promoted to Major. In 2009, he was assigned as a Liaison Officer to the German Operations Command in Potsdam and to the German MOD Planning Staff in Berlin focused on Hungarian contribution to ISAF operation. In 2010, he graduated from the National Defense University with MSc degree in Military Leadership. In 2012 he graduated the 7th German National Joint Admiral and General Staff Course at the Bundeswehr Command & Staff Collage in Hamburg. Following that, he was appointed to the position of the Military Assistant to the Chief of Land Forces of the Hungarian Joint Force Command and he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. From 2013 to 2016, he served as the Head of Combat Support Branch G3 HDF JFC.
During this assignment in 2013-2014 he was deployed for seven months to Afghanistan as a senior advisor and head of a brigade level advisory team. In 2016, he was assigned to the position of Chief G37 HDF Joint Force Command. In 2017, his next appointment was at HDF JFC where he held the post of Chief J3/ACOS Operations and was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
From August 2018 he started and led the planning project of Headquarters Multinational Division Centre. He was appointed to Chief of Staff of the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre on 01 June 2020 and he was promoted to his current rank on the 20th of August 2020.
12 May 2022 – 17 May 2023 he served as Chief of Staff of EUFOR Force HQ in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since 15 July 2023 he has been assuming the position Director of the General Staff Hungarian Defence Forces.
He is married to his wife Beatrix and lives in Várpalota.
Multinational Crossing
16:47 May 13, 2026
Soldiers and combat vehicles of the Hungarian-led multinational NATO Forward Land Forces Battlegroup (FLF BG) crossed the Danube by ferry at the Meszes–Gerjen ferry site near Kalocsa. Personnel of the HDF 14th Engineer Regiment and the Ohio National Guard, taking part in Exercise Szentes Castle, helped the multinational battlegroup in carrying out the task requiring coordinated teamwork on 11 May.
Strength and Speed
16:40 May 13, 2026
The Hungarian JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft (also) dashed on the spotter day of the multinational flying exercise NATO Tiger Meet, held at the Araxos Airbase, Greece.
Hungarian Defence Forces exercising with US, NATO and regional partners
16:24 May 13, 2026
“This week the Hungarian Defence Forces are conducting training events together with foreign partners on multiple locations around Hungary in the interest of developing joint operational and reaction capabilities” – said Chief of HDF Defence Staff General Dr. Gábor Böröndi. The general told us that hundreds of Hungarian servicemembers were exercising together with their Italian, American, Slovak, Slovenian and Serbian comrades during these training events organized within NATO and bilateral frameworks.
Minister of Defence sworn in
13:41 May 13, 2026
On Tuesday, 12 May, Defence Minister Dr. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi was sworn in in the National Assembly.
The Tisza government has been formed
11:00 May 13, 2026
On Tuesday, 12 May, in Budapest, President of Hungary Tamás Sulyok appointed the ministers of Péter Magyar’s government, so the new cabinet has been formed. Hungary’s new Minister of Defence is Dr. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi.
Oath-taking ceremony with military honors
10:59 May 11, 2026
On 9 May the new National Assembly was formed, the MPs were sworn in and the new speaker of the house was elected. President of TISZA party Péter Magyar took office as prime minister of Hungary. On the occasion of the inaugural session of the new National Assembly, the Hungarian Defence Forces were also present in Kossuth Square, Budapest, where the soldiers of the 32nd Life Guard Regiment of the HDF “vitéz Szurmay Sándor” Budapest Garrison Brigade ceremonially hoisted the flag of Hungary. The ceremonial parade involved the hussars of the Count Ferenc Nádasdy Hussar Division of the HDF “vitéz Szurmay Sándor” Budapest Garrison Brigade and the cavalrymen of the Hungarian National Ceremonial Hussar Squadron, as well as the bandsmen of the HDF Central Band.
“This Cannot Be Described, This Must Be Felt”
11:10 May 8, 2026
“At this battlegroup, the phases of theatre airlift must be known as skills”, said Lieutenant Colonel László Battonyai at the exercise of the Hungarian company of the multinational NATO Forward Land Forces Battle Group (FLF BG HUN). Under the leadership of the battlegroup commander, servicemembers practised helicopter embarkation/disembarkation in Hódmezővásárhely on 5 May.
Exercise series Adaptive Hussars continues – this year without troop movements
13:27 May 7, 2026
In synchronization with one of NATO’s major exercises, the Hungarian Defence Forces are conducting Exercise Adaptive Hussars between 4 and 15 May this year, this time without any significant troop movements.
Combating contamination
11:50 May 7, 2026
Exercise Purple Field has regularly been organized for nearly ten years in Serbia, where the specialist of the HDF 102nd CBRN Regiment have the opportunity to practice the phases of CBRN reconnaissance and decontamination in an actually contaminated environment. Prior to the large-scale exercise, the unit held a pre-exercise training session in Székesfehérvár on 6 May.
Mortar of the future
10:46 May 7, 2026
For the first time, the combat support company of the 39th Grenadier Battalion of the HDF 11th Motorised Infantry Brigade used the newly commissioned mortar system of the brigade on a live fire exercise. When coupled to the Arc Fire fire control system, the Hirtenberger 120 mm mortars provide big firepower as well as rapid and precise reaction capability.