German-Hungarian Military Cooperation is Being Strengthened

In 2011, when German-Hungarian logistic relations were made closer, it was only a hope that the results of the agreement might be expanded to other military fields as well. The expectations have been fulfilled, but the cooperation – which can now be regarded as traditional – needs regular reform. This has been the second time that the parties met in Hungary this year, in order to transform their cooperation in certain fields.

Competent leaders of the HDF Defence Staff and the Bundeswehr Joint Support Command introduced organizational and task system changes to each other in July. Following the discussions, they visited the renewed Szentkirályszabadja logistic storebase, the free capacity of which was offered by the Hungarian Defence Forces to the allied forces, within the framework of the EU Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) LOGHUB.

The bilateral relations are highly important because a decisive part of our country’s military industry procurements is from Germany.

At this year’s second professional meeting, plans for the future were already discussed. Civil-military cooperation, CBRN defence, logistics, military medicine and military police professionals gathered in Hotel Hadik.

During the discussions, both parties urged the broadening of the relations. The cooperation covers sharing the lessons learned, coordinating mainly the equipment of similar type and harmonising the professional courses. A significant advancement has been made in the field of joint training: the partners made mutual offers.

Another important element of the relations is organizing joint support exercises. A good example of the latter is Exercise Safety Fuel 2025, held in September, where soldiers of the HDF Material Supply Store Base fielded and operated a Bulk Fuel Installation (BFI) in Lithuania, together with a German logistic regiment.