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.
Defence cooperation with the Republic of Niger
10:46 June 27, 2023
On Monday, 26 June the Hungarian and the Nigerien ministers of defence signed a letter of intent on defence cooperation in Budapest.
Fuel supply specialists on Exercise Air Defender
10:22 June 23, 2023
The fuel supply specialist personnel deployed at Wunstorf Air Base, Germany of the HDF Material Supply Store Base (HDF MSSB) recently participated in Exercise Air Defender 2023, the largest air force drills in NATO’s history.
Meeting of Visegrád Four Chiefs of Defence
10:18 June 23, 2023
For the first time this year, the Chiefs of Defence of the Visegrád Four (V4) countries met in Bratislava, Slovakia on 20-21 June. Besides General Daniel Zmeko, the Slovak host of the event, Polish Chief of Defence General Rajmund T. Andrzejczak, Czech Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Karel Rehka and Lieutenant General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, Chief of the Hungarian Defence Forces General Staff were also present at the working conference that is summoned twice every year.
Third airman involved in helicopter crash found in Croatia
18:31 June 22, 2023
According to information provided by the Ministry of Defence, the third crewmember of the helicopter that had crashed on Wednesday in the line of duty was also found under the wreckage of the helicopter on Thursday afternoon.
Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky expressed his condolences
09:19 June 22, 2023
Speaking on behalf of the government of Hungary and the Ministry of Defence at a press conference held on Wednesday, the Minister of Defence expressed his condolences to the next of kin of those killed in a helicopter accident in Croatia.
Hungarian military helicopter crashes in the line of duty in Croatia
09:15 June 22, 2023
Two Airbus H145M helicopters of the Hungarian air force were flying a training mission in Croatian airspace when one of them crashed with three airmen on board in the central part of Croatia. The circumstances of the accident are still unclear.
Strong bastion on international foundations
14:00 June 21, 2023
NATO’s command structure will become complete with the Székesfehérvár-based Headquarters Multinational Division Centre (HQ MND-C) achieving full operational capability (FOC) at the end of this year. The international Exercise Strong Bastion 2023 is a milestone in this process, since this is the event during which evaluators of the Alliance are conducting the Combat Readiness Evaluation (CREVAL) of the Headquarters.
Attachés’ visit to Győr and Pápa
14:36 June 20, 2023
On 13 and 14 June, twenty-three members of the Budapest Military Attaché Corps (BMAC) paid a visit to the HDF 205th Surface-to-Air Missile Regiment and the HDF 47th Air Base. During the visits, the diplomats gained an insight into the structure of the units as well as their scope of tasks and authority, and learned about their main military assets.
NATO’s DIANA programme offers Hungary new opportunities in defence and security issues
14:31 June 20, 2023
On 19 June, the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) network launched its first Challenge Programme, a call for proposals to solve critical defence and security challenges. This call for proposals is for innovators who wish to develop large-scale, dual-use – military and civilian – technological ideas and solutions to tackle today’s critical defence and security problems.
Hungary to purchase French-made surface-to-air missiles
14:27 June 20, 2023
Under the terms of a letter of intent signed in Paris, Hungary is going to purchase French-made surface-to-air missiles in the future – said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in a video uploaded to his Facebook page on Tuesday, 20 June.