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.
Gripens “intercept” Hungarian media aircraft
13:12 November 14, 2025
An Airbus A319 transport aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces was flying home from a visit to the NATO Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission, Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania with editors, photographers, cameramen and spotters on board, when it “got intercepted” by Gripen fighter jets in the airspace of the Baltic state. This was to the passengers’ great delight, as this way, representatives of Hungarian media were able to photograph and film, close-up, the moments of interception carried out during a Tango (practice) scramble. As of 1 August, together with the Spanish and Italian air forces, Hungary’s JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets have been performing air policing tasks for four months in the airspace of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
International cooperation in the field
12:23 November 14, 2025
The combined reserve Exercise Moonstar 2025 is currently being conducted with the participation of close to 150 Hungarian, Polish and Slovak reservists at Vay Ádám Training Base in Hajdúhadház. The objective is to achieve that members of the training audience can act in a coordinated way, while developing their tactical skills and ability of cooperation and familiarizing themselves with each other’s procedures.
NATO FLF BG HUN declared Combat Ready again
11:36 November 14, 2025
The Hungary-based, Hungarian-led multinational NATO Forward Land Forces Battle Group (NATO FLF BG HUN) has passed the NATO CREVAL (Combat Readiness Evaluation of Land Headquarters and Units) inspection. During the tactical Exercise Brave Warrior 2025-II, our soldiers showed their professional knowledge and skills in cooperation with Croatian and Italian forces.
German-Hungarian Military Cooperation is Being Strengthened
13:40 November 13, 2025
The professional delegation of the Bundeswehr Joint Support Command discussed the details of renewing the document that regulates the German-Hungarian joint support cooperation at the beginning of the week. The topics were mostly justified by the organizational changes.
HDF NCO Academy in International Focus
13:06 November 13, 2025
On 21 October, within the framework of a visit organized by the MoD Department for International Cooperation, the commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces Non-Commissioned Officer (HDF NCO) Academy received the members of the Budapest Military Attaché Corps (BMAC) in Szentendre. “To us, it is very important that we had a chance to introduce foreign defence attachés accredited in Hungary to the current training programs of the HDF NCO Academy, its achieved results and the current directions of development” – said Colonel Imre Frankó.
The Stability of the Middle East Also Serves the Security of Hungary
16:13 November 12, 2025
Hungary is committed to the peace and stability of the Middle East; it actively contributes to enhancing regional peace and security within the UN mission in Lebanon, declared Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, who, during his official trip to Lebanon, visited the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Hungarian soldiers serving there.
Exercise planning, courses, joint SOF training
12:28 November 12, 2025
During his two-day official visit to Georgia, General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, Chief of HDF Defence Staff held discussions on cooperation in the field of education and multinational training programs, as well as on the lessons learned about NATO integration.
In the service of peace every day
11:45 November 12, 2025
Hungary is committed to supporting the stability of the Middle East, since the security of the region serves our security, too – wrote Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on his social media page.
A network of relations taking shape
15:30 November 11, 2025
The members of the Budapest Military Attaché Corps recently paid a visit to the HDF 2nd ISR Regiment and the Kratochvil Károly Honvéd Secondary School in Debrecen. They showed especially great interest in the army scouts’ new military equipment and the system of Hungarian defence education.
Stronger Lebanese-Hungarian Partnership
14:26 November 11, 2025
Lebanon’s security has crucial significance from the perspective of the security of the Middle East as a whole. The security of the Middle East is essential to the Hungarians, too, because through illegal migration and terrorism, such threats are posed to both Hungary and Europe that must be dealt with by all means, emphasized Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky after the first day of his visit to Lebanon in a video uploaded to his social media page.