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.
Military and defence industrial cooperation between Hungary and the United Arab Emirates
16:26 April 22, 2024
Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky recently held a discussion with Minister of State for Defence Affairs Mohammed Fadel Al Mazrouei in the United Arab Emirates on the possibilities of military and defence industrial cooperation.
Farewell to the air service
13:08 April 22, 2024
After more than 40 years of service as aircrew member, Senior Warrant Officer István Molnár – an airman of the HDF 86th Helicopter Wing – took off on his last flight in EUFOR Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The seasoned Mi-17 aircrew member will soon retire in Szolnok, Hungary. Following his last flight in the mission, the personnel of the EUFOR Aviation Detachment received and greeted István “Moles” Molnár – with a water jet, a memorial certificate and a friendly goodbye hug.
HDF begin exhuming more than a thousand former prisoners of war
13:05 April 22, 2024
”Out of those deceased in the former Baja POW camp, 1023 German and Hungarian soldiers and laborers were reinterred in three large mass graves opposite the barracks in 1948. Exhumation work in the area has already begun” – wrote recently Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on his social media profile.
There is no NATO without the national armed forces
11:34 April 19, 2024
NATO is the largest, most successful and really working defensive military alliance in the world, but there is no NATO without the national armed forces – stated Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in Nyíregyháza on Thursday, 18 April.
Striving for Full Operational Capability
09:42 April 19, 2024
The personnel of the Hungarian EUFOR maneuver company are conducting a Full Operational Capability (FOC) validation exercise in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
They will become military observers
12:41 April 18, 2024
On 8 April, with the participation of students from 18 different nations, the 44th International Military Observer Course commenced at the Hungarian Defence Forces Peace Support Training Centre (HDF PSTC).
Meeting of Italian–Hungarian Defence Policy Directors in Budapest
12:38 April 18, 2024
On 15 and 16 April, Major General Enrico Barduani, Italian Defence Policy Director, visited Hungary at the invitation of László Hajnik, MoD Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy.
HQ MND-C embarks on inaugural Military March, reflecting NATO’s enduring unity
11:23 April 17, 2024
Established in 1949, NATO aims to safeguard its member states’ freedom and security through collective defence. With 32 member countries across North America and Europe, today the Alliance remains vital for our transatlantic security. Over the past 75 years, NATO has adapted to various security challenges, including the Cold War and counterterrorism. Its mission includes deterrence, crisis management, and cooperative security. The Alliance’s commitment to collective defence highlights the importance of unity among its members as well as the striving for peace, stability, and democratic values in the Euro-Atlantic region and on a global scale.
Reconciliation Over the Graves
17:19 April 15, 2024
A large-scale commemoration was held to mark the 30th anniversary of signing the German-Hungarian agreement on war grave care in the Szentlélek military cemetery – that had been renovated by German and Hungarian reservists – in Székesfehérvár on Saturday, 13 April.
Exemplary Commitment to Security and Defence Policy
17:10 April 15, 2024
Austrian General Robert Brieger, Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (CEUMC) recently paid a visit to Hungary. The high-ranking military diplomat held discussions with Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and General Gábor Böröndi PhD, Chief of HDF General Staff.