Chief of Defence Visits Austria

Austrian Chief of Defence General Othmar Commenda received General Dr. Tibor Benkő with military honors in Vienna. In what followed, the two chiefs of defence started the program of the meeting with closed-door talks on various topics, including the current issues of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) and the tasks of the Austrian engineer contingent deployed in Hungary. During the plenary discussions, the two sides held presentations to assess the steps taken so far in connection with the migration crisis and the future possibilities. One of the key topics of the discussions was the development and expansion of cooperation possibilities in the CEDC framework, the details of which have been coordinated at expert level since 2016. At the present meeting, the chiefs of defence reviewed the results of this coordination process and agreed on the main guiding principles of further cooperation.

Beyond intensifying cooperation within the CEDC, Austria is seeking ways to join the TISA Multinational Engineer Battalion, and is planning to establish a similar organization and to assume its lead nation role. Earlier, Austria took part in Exercise Blonde Avalanche of the TISA Battalion, and Hungary is open to the expansion of the battalion.

Under a Hungarian–Austrian intergovernmental agreement, since early November 2016 the Austrian armed forces – reinforced with army engineer units – have been involved in the border security operations Joint Will and Temporary Security Barrier. Over the last one year, for the most part, the Austrian army engineers constructed roads and provided logistic support to assist the border security tasks of the Hungarian Defence Forces. At the present meeting, the delegations held presentations to assess the results of the Austrian engineer contingent. Further topics of discussion included cooperation in the areas of cyber defence and special operations.

On the second day of the meeting, the Hungarian delegation visited the 3rd Engineer Battalion in Melk, where its members were introduced to the everyday tasks and procedures of the unit.

Photo: General Staff