Recognition for the building of bilateral relations

Text: Ferenc Antal | Photo: WO Lajos Szabó | 15:27 September 17, 2021

On 17 September in the Ministry of Defence, Budapest, Defence Minister Dr. Tibor Benkő presented the gold grade of the Service Medal of Merit decorated with laurel wreath to Major General Dr. Johann Frank, former Defence Policy Director of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence for the building and deepening of Austrian–Hungarian military-to-military relations and successful cooperation.

“It is an especially great honor in a soldier’s life when he receives such a high-level decoration from a minister of defence”, said Major General Johann Frank, and went on reminding those present that the two armed forces are connected with very many common ties. He added that “It is a great pleasure for me to know that during my time in office, I had opportunity to contribute a little to the deepening of the relationship between the Austrian and the Hungarian armed forces”.

Major General Johann Frank thanked Defence Minister Tibor Benkő for his political efforts made in the interest of taking the Central European cooperation forward. He expressed his hope that they would be able to take this partnership to an even higher level than the earlier one in the fields of regional and bilateral cooperation.

Among others, also present at the event were Dr. Gergely Németh, Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy of the Ministry of Defence, Lieutenant General Zoltán Mihócza, Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces Command and Colonel László Hajnik, Head of the Department for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Defence.

Galéria