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.
Hungarian and Serbian generals play futsal in Szeged
14:36 November 5, 2024
For almost a decade now, we have regularly met in the Serbian-Hungarian generals’ futsal matches – said Colonel Attila Nagy, Head of MoD Property Assets and Housing Support in an interview to our website. We asked one of the organizers of the teams composed of senior military leaders during their match in Szeged on 31 October.
Military Engineers Return Home from Bosnia and Herzegovina
14:31 November 5, 2024
The Hungarian military engineer team offered to the Western Balkans country to help with the elimination of the damages caused by the flood and the landslides in the area recently finished its work. Hungary – besides other offers – provided military engineering support to Bosnia and Herzegovina via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
Austro-Hungarian Commemoration in Kosovo
11:12 November 5, 2024
On the occasion of All Saints’ Day, the Austrian and Hungarian KFOR contingents held a joint commemoration and wreath laying in the Austro-Hungarian military cemetery of the city of Peja, in the western part of Kosovo.
The system of territorial defence reserve keeps strengthening in the international domain
11:08 November 5, 2024
Hungary’s delegation also participated in the professional conference of the Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers (CIOR) held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain between 31 October and 2 November.
Defence of Hungary and Europe Does not Begin at our Borders
11:05 November 5, 2024
The key to peace in Hungary and the EU is a stable Western Balkans. We are committed to supporting the security of the region, for which EUFOR Operation ALTHEA is indispensable. We are proud that the EU operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been led by a Hungarian commander, Major General Dr. László Sticz, for almost a year. The general recently talked about his experiences to Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in person.
Hungary participates in EU-level crisis management exercise
10:46 October 31, 2024
Conducted in two phases, the European Union’s Integrated Resolve 2024 Parallel and Coordinated Exercise (EU IR24 PACE) has recently ended. During the multi-phase activity, the EU and national response capability and crisis management processes were being tested, especially in the light of the fact that today the global security situation requires the building of high-level resilience within the national and allied systems.
Change of Command at Bundeswehr Logistic Command
10:40 October 31, 2024
Major General Jochen Deuer recently took over command of the Bundeswehr Logistic Command (Logistikkommando der Bundeswehr) from Lieutenant General Gerald Funke. The handover-takeover event held in Erfurt was attended by the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, the logistic representatives four distinguished partner countries including Hungary, as well as several military and local leaders.
Full-fledged membership and collective air defence
09:07 October 31, 2024
With their own modern air defence capability, the Hungarian Defence Forces have joined the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) support partnership.
Exercising with American soldiers
09:00 October 31, 2024
Besides the Hungarian forces based on the infantrymen from the 39th battalion of the HDF 11th Motorized Infantry Brigade, Italian, Croatian and Turkish subunits also serve in the multinational NATO Forward Land Force Battle Group (FLF BG). During Exercise Brave Warrior 2024-II, the battle group was augmented with American soldiers.
Perfect cooperation is the key to success
11:25 October 28, 2024
Under the command of the HDF 11th Motorized Infantry Brigade, the multinational NATO Forward Land Force Battle Group (FLF BG) had to accomplish a complex task. It seized a key objective, while the enemy was defending it with all possible means. The success was guaranteed by the perfect cooperation between the maneuvering Hungarian and Italian forces, as well as the combat support and combat service support subunits. With the help of the MILES system, the combat engagement was realistically simulated – those hit by the laser had to quit the maneuver.