Major General Zoltán Somogyi
15:53 July 18, 2023Brigadier 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.
Continuing development of the armed forces
12:59 April 29, 2024
“Since 2016, we have taken a huge step forward on the path of armed forces development, but this is not enough. The biggest challenge for us still consists in changing our way of thinking. Today, we spend more than 2% of our GDP on defence, therefore we have the political will and the financial resources available for transforming our armed forces”, said General Gábor Böröndi PhD, Chief of HDF General Staff at the forum of the April 26 conference.
Peace is the most Important!
12:52 April 29, 2024
Peace is the most important! – emphasized Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on Friday, 26 April, adding that unfortunately, the whole world but Europe is certainly in a strange “fever of war”.
Cooperation is the Future
11:20 April 29, 2024
Both parties can benefit from the cooperation of the armed forces and the defence industry – emphasized Lieutenant General Ferenc Kajári, Deputy Chief, HDF General Staff at the closing day of the Budapest Security Dialogue conference held in Budapest on 27 April.
The Voice of Central Europe is Needed
13:38 April 26, 2024
Nowadays, when numerous countries in the world are in a fever of war, peace is the most important to Hungary – said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in Budapest on Thursday, 25 April following his discussion with the defence ministers of the CEDC (Central European Defence Cooperation).
International military observers on closing exercise
11:51 April 26, 2024
On 24 April, the participants of the 44th International Military Observer Course (IMOC) conducted the closing exercise of their three-week training program at the HDF Peace Support Centre. The students from 18 nations carried out information gathering missions, patrol tasks and aerial reconnaissance flight. As one of the last phases of their closing exercise, the participants assisted with the treatment of casualties in a refugee camp and practiced media relations skills as well.
V4 Chiefs of Defence Meet in Liblice, Czech Republic
11:45 April 26, 2024
Chiefs of Defence of the V4 countries, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, recently met in Liblice, Czech Republic. Their conference was dominated by the conflict in Ukraine and the further development of the military cooperation among the four countries.
Anniversary NATO Festival in the USA with Hungarian Hussars
15:24 April 25, 2024
This year, the Norfolk NATO festival, which is the oldest festival in the Hampton Roads region and the only one in the USA that celebrates the cooperation of NATO member states, attracted more than five thousand people.
Doctrine: fixed point in a changing world
14:31 April 25, 2024
The NATO Allied Joint Doctrine Development Course is organized in Hungary for the sixth time, between 22 and 25 April. The significance of this course lies primarily in its being the only platform within the defensive Alliance for training doctrine custodians and developers.
Peace is the most Important Topic These Days
14:22 April 25, 2024
Besides peace, Hungary’s interest is to accelerate the accession of the Western Balkans’ countries to the EU, which is why this will be the central topic at the congress of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) in Budapest on Thursday, 25 April – said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in the TV program called “Ma reggel” (Today Morning) of channel M1.
Crowd and Riot Control training
13:28 April 25, 2024
Latvian soldiers assigned to the NATO-led KFOR mission took part in this week in fire phobia training led by Hungarian trainers deployed with the KFOR Tactical Reserve Battalion (KTRBN), at Camp Novo Selo.