The objective is peacekeeping

The peace of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Western Balkans region is of fundamental importance to Hungary, therefore our country has been actively engaging in crisis management in the former Yugoslavia all along since the end of the Bosnian war. The Hungarian Defence Forces have participated in NATO peace support operations between 1995 and 2004, and post-2004 they have been contributing staff officers and MNBN maneuver companies – that is, the HDF EUFOR Contingent (EUFOR HUNCON) – to the peacekeeping mission of the European Union called EUFOR Operation Althea.

Next year, Hungary is going to fill a key position, as it will become lead nation of the largest military mission of the European Union under the command of Major General László Sticz PhD. As part of this engagement, besides the company-level HDF EUFOR Contingent, the Hungarian Defence Forces will be providing, among others, the ROLE 1 medical support of the international mission, its Combat Search and Rescue and Aeromedical Evacuation capabilities, a transport helicopter unit, an EOD/K9 team, as well as logistic support and supply capabilities. Besides, another maneuver company, a military police team, an engineer detachment with sapper, EOD and water purification capabilities as well as a CBRN team will be on stand-by as part of the Intermediate Reserve Force in Hungary.

“The multi-level pre-deployment training has been going on practically since March. This mission rehearsal training has been conducted on the basis of a highly complex training syllabus, and we have already completed in terms of the individual and, in parallel, the force-level training activities”, told us Major General László Sticz PhD about the work done in the last few months.

Currrently, the 27th rotation of the HDF EUFOR Contingent is serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina, while the pre-deployment training of the 28th rotation to leave for abroad in March 2024 is well under way. The bulk of the incoming personnel of this contingent is drawn from the Székesfehérvár-based HDF 51st Signal and Headquarters Support Brigade. Over the recent months, in the framework of individual and force-level specialized training programs, the soldiers participated, among others, in target practices, driving training, reconnaissance as well as combat life saver training sessions.

In the phase of the closing exercise, the personnel to depart for Bosnia carried out a spectacular crowd riot control (CRC) task.

“During the training exercise, despite being called on to do so, an aggressive crowd did not leave the area, where we had to evacuate persons from a building, and the only way for the CRC subunit to implement it was to clear the rioters from the area”, this was how Sergeant First Class Tibor Szunyogh, the preparing platoon NCO of the Hungarian company of the EUFOR Multinational Battalion recounted the event.

“At the closing exercise of the HDF EUFOR-28 HUNCON, not only the operational maneuver but also the support element is being put to the test. Today, a platoon-strong force carried out a crowd riot control task, but during their training, they have also focused on all the general peacekeeping duties. Their pre-deployment training included patrols, the manning of checkpoints, as well as force protection, close protection and convoy escort tasks” – this is how Major László Nagy, the preparing commander of the EUFOR Multinational Battalion summed up the tasks of the personnel.