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.
The NATO DEEP working group is meeting in Budapest
11:57 November 22, 2023
Hungary is once again hosting a working group meeting of the NATO Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) between 20 and 24 November in Budapest, at the Hotel Hadik.
“Peace is more than the absence of war”
13:16 November 21, 2023
On Sunday, 19 November, a commemoration coupled with wreath-laying was held on the occasion of the German commemoration day (Volkstrauertag) in the German–Hungarian War Cemetery of Budaörs. Year after year, people remember the soldiers fallen in the world wars – including the victims of oppressive regimes – on this commemoration day.
Trilateral meeting of Chiefs of Defence in Brussels
13:06 November 21, 2023
The Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian Chiefs of Defence recently held a coordinating discussion led by the Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) in the Belgian capital.
Hungarian DCOM KFOR completes one-year service
11:31 November 21, 2023
Major General Zoltán Schmidt, Deputy Chief of Defence for Management, HDF General Staff recently represented the Hungarian Defence Forces at the handover-takeover (HOTO) ceremony of the Deputy Commander of KFOR (DCOM KFOR) position in Pristina.
Credibility, impartiality, integrity
15:51 November 20, 2023
Hungary will safeguard and further strengthen the peace of the Balkans through a two-star general as the incoming commander of the European Union’s mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Hungary is an important bulwark on NATO’s eastern flank
12:01 November 20, 2023
We are grateful to Hungary for allowing one of the eight multinational NATO Forward Land Force Battle Groups (FLF BG) to deploy in its area – said Lieutenant General Nicola Zanelli, Deputy Commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) in an exclusive interview given to defence.hu.
Epochal change underway in the Hungarian military
11:12 November 20, 2023
An epochal change is currently under way in the Hungarian military – stated Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky during his annual hearing before the Defence and Law Enforcement Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday, 16 November.
Hungarian contribution to anti-terrorism action
13:23 November 17, 2023
On behalf of the government, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky has tabled his proposed amendment on Hungary’s military role in Iraq. Based on the draft resolution tabled by him, at most 20 troops – or 40 in rotational periods – would serve in the international military operations conducted against the Islamic State. Their mandate will run until 31 December 2025.
Critical Infrastructure Protection with military aid
09:47 November 16, 2023
There can be no national cyber security strategy without military cyber security strategy – this was stated at the 5th International Conference on Central European Critical Infrastructure Protection (ICCECIP) in Budapest. On 13 and 14 November, scientific professionals from ten countries were discussing current issues in their field of specialization during the event co-organized by the Óbuda University Bánki Donát Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering and the Hungarian Defence Forces Cyber Operations Command (HDF COC).
“Hungary does not support further funding for Ukraine!”
08:26 November 16, 2023
Hungary continues to reject delivering weapons to Ukraine, and does not support further financial support either, the defence minister stated in Brussels on Tuesday, 14 November.