Joint Hungarian–North Macedonian SOF exercise

“72 hours earlier, the soldiers did not know where they had to go, they just received an alert order. Our main objective is to check and raise the readiness state of the Hungarian Defence Forces, which is an entirely new element” – said General Gábor Böröndi at the site of his visit.

On the first day of the exercise, the participating forces were regrouped with an Embraer KC-390 transport aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The Hungarian troops were flown to Krivolak Military Training Center, while the North Macedonian troops to Újdörögd, Hungary. Cold Peak 2025 provided Hungarian SOF soldiers with an opportunity to cooperate with the military of another NATO member state, so the SOFs of the two countries got to know each other’s tactics, techniques and procedures while also practicing regrouping.

In the area of Krivolak, soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces practiced the elements of mountain warfare on a semi-desert, hilly, rocky terrain. During the one-week program, they carried out, among others, light infantry special tactical tasks and also practiced firing and maneuvering tactics. They conducted live fire exercises individually and on force level, and had a chance to train for fighting in built-up areas. This was the first time that Hungarian SOF soldiers had carried out such a lot of tasks of this complexity in the Balkan country.

“I’m very proud of my troops. They are worthy partners of any NATO member country in terms of their assets, equipment and motivation. Their cooperation with the North Macedonian SOF units was great” – this was how Colonel Péter Simon, Commander, HDF Special Operations Command summed up the lessons learned at Cold Peak 2025 in North Macedonia.

“Both the North Macedonian and the Hungarian Special Operations Forces were performing excellently” – stated Major General Saško Lafčiski. The North Macedonian Chief of Defence added that he was very happy because during the exercise, everything went as he and General Böröndi had planned months earlier.

Joint exercises, like Adaptive Hussars 2025 and Cold Peak 2025, have special significance within NATO because they increase interoperability among the armed forces of the member states, and thereby strengthen the mutual and collective defence offered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Besides, the Hungarian–North Macedonian exercise also contributed to preserving the security and stability of the Balkans region.