Difficult Circumstances, Stepped-Up Operational Tempo

Having completed eight months of tour of duty abroad, Brig.-Gen. Zoltán Gulyás, EUFOR Chief of Staff and Senior National Representative of the Hungarian troops serving in Sarajevo handed over his positions to his successor, Brig.-Gen. Péter Ernő Siposs.

At the staff meeting held on the occasion, Brig.-Gen. Zoltán Gulyás said that the troops serving in Sarajevo deliver an excellent performance all the time, as attested by a number of international feedbacks. He added that Operation EUFOR ALTHEA is a high priority among the international military missions of European Union, being one of the most important military activities currently performed in the interest of European unity.

In his speech, Brig.-Gen. Péter Ernő Siposs stressed that the Hungarian troops serving in Sarajevo represent the Hungarian Defence Forces as well as Hungary. For this reason, they have to execute their assigned tasks in this spirit.

Maj.-Gen. László Domján delivered a ceremonial speech in which he pointed out that the Hungarian Defence Forces have been participating in Operation ALTHEA since the beginnings. Hungarian soldiers have been working as members of the top leadership at the HQ over the last two years, thereby assisting Bosnia-Herzegovina in maintaining stability and achieving integration into the European Union.

Addressing Brig.-Gen. Gulyás, the major-general said that the outgoing Chief of Staff had spent the last eight months under difficult circumstances characterized by a stepped-up operational tempo, and the work done by him in that period would determine the future of EUFOR too. He has been an excellent diplomat of the mission and the Hungarian Defence Forces, who greatly increased the acceptance of EUFOR and the international recognition of the Hungarian Defence Forces.

Addressing the new EUFOR Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Domján stressed that he was about to take over the position in a complex situation. As a result of a political decision, the mission is to enter a new stage and is going to operate in a new form, as far as security circumstances permit. Gen. Siposs is tasked with participating in the transformation process, in which he will be able to rely on the work of the Hungarian staff officers posted to the HQ.

After the staff meeting, Maj.-Gen. László Domján met with EUFOR Commander Maj.-Gen. Robert Bieger and the Hungarian chief of staff and staff officers serving at the NATO HQ in Sarajevo. The transfer of authority ceremony of the EUFOR Chief of Staff position took place in the presence of military attachés, the diplomatic corps, the representatives of international organizations as well as the leadership of the armed forces of Bosnia-Herzegovina.