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.
ADHU 25: Special Operations Forces on the ground and in the air
10:53 October 13, 2025
The operation of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) battle group was based on a fictitious story. During it, the SOF operators launched air and ground assaults to recapture Mezőkövesd airport – which had fallen into enemy hands – at the cost of an intensive firefight. This was one of the most spectacular elements of the multinational SOF Exercise Black Swan 2025, which forms part of country defence Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025. Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky and General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, Chief of HDF Defence Staff also observed the operation on the spot.
Quick and professional medical care even under field conditions
15:33 October 10, 2025
Already on the second occasion in Hungary, the HDF Medical Centre and the Department of Experimental Cardiology and Surgical Techniques, Semmelweis University recently organized a training course for surgeons treating seriously injured patients. The international course was attended by about 30 civilian and military professionals in the field of military medicine from many parts of the world.
From Hungary to UN peace missions
13:48 October 10, 2025
Ridden with ethnic conflicts, the Republic of Conga is coming to life after a civil war. Public order is being restored, but the leaders of the country call for the assistance of UN peacekeeping forces – this is the fictitious scenario of the International Military Observers’ Course running in Szolnok, Tázlár and Kiskunhalas. Between 29 September and 17 October, 22 servicemembers from 13 countries are participating in the pre-deployment training course.
Neighbours 2025: multinational cooperation
11:44 October 10, 2025
The Hungarian–Serbian joint training Exercise Neighbours 2025 closed with a spectacular tactical phase. During the one and a half week spent in the military training area “Psuljanke livade”, near Paraćin, Central Serbia, emphasis was placed on multinational cooperation and the organization of joint operations, familiarization with each other’s equipment, as well as the analysis of lessons learned earlier.
They are capable of the most complex operations
11:39 October 10, 2025
The Hungarian Defence Forces have presented another set of capabilities at Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025 – writes Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on his social media page. The minister recently observed how the personnel of the HDF Special Operations Command recaptured an airport in cooperation with Bulgarian, Polish, Slovak and Slovenian Special Operations Forces.
Qatari Ambassador to Budapest Says Goodbye
13:30 October 9, 2025
Dr. Zsolt Kutnyánszky, MoD State Secretary for Force Development and Defence Policy received Qatari Ambassador Abdulla Falah Abdulla Nasser Al-Dosari on a farewell visit in his office on 8 October. László Hajnik, MoD Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy, was also present at the discussion with the head of mission who is to leave Hungary upon ending his service in Budapest.
Enemy at the gates
12:06 October 9, 2025
The multinational Special Operations Forces (SOF) Exercise Black Swan 2025 is in full swing within the framework of Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025. One of the recent phases involved an attack on the SOF main operating base located at Sármellék (Hévíz-Balaton Airport) in the early morning hours. The opposing force (OPFOR) attempted to penetrate into the base with drones and land force units, but the territorial defence reservists on guard duty in the camp and the SOF troops successfully thwarted this attempt in an intensive firefight and drove back the attackers. All the soldiers who had been wounded in action during the armed incident received professional medical care on the spot, and then were carried to the rear.
“The flame of excellence keeps burning in Budapest”
15:14 October 8, 2025
The groundbreaking ceremony of the World Aquatics Headquarters in Budapest took place on the premises of former Láng Machine Factory on 7 October. The organization has more than 200 member countries and will direct the global development of aquatic sports from the Hungarian capital city.
NATO monitors at Exercise ADHU 25
12:39 October 8, 2025
At the request of the Chief of the HDF Defence Staff, a monitor team of NATO Allied Joint Force Command gathered strategic and execution-level lessons learned on country defence Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025.
Leadership is the wonder weapon of modern armed forces
14:07 October 7, 2025
At the International Leadership Conference recently held on the Oxford campus of Miami University, Lieutenant General Zoltán Mihócza, Deputy Chief (Territorial Defence) of the HDF Defence Staff talked about, among other topics, the key role of leadership and human resources in the development of modern armed forces as well as the importance of cooperation between the civil and the military spheres.