Multinational exercise in Italy

The purposes of the two-week exercise are to integrate the forces of five nations working together in the European Union Defence Cooperation Initiative (EU DECI), to harmonize their procedures and finally demonstrate their Full Operational Capability (FOC).

The idea of the EU DECI was born in Italy. The aim of the battle group is to develop the capabilities of the participating nations, in order to strengthen regional security and stability. Another two nations, Austria and Croatia have also joined the EU DECI Battle Group, which is based on the Hungarian–Italian–Slovenian Multinational Land Force (MLF).

The opening ceremony was held in the centre of Gemona, where, after the flags of the five nations were raised, Major-General Marcello Bellacicco delivered a speech. He stated that “Around the world there are a lot of difficult crisis situations, which are difficult to answer. We are the military component of the international community, and so for us nothing is difficult. We are soldiers, and we are prepared for our duty. This exercise is important, because after two weeks of activities we can answer that we are ready. I am sure, that we will achieve the objectives of this exercise."

As part of the multinational battle group, soldiers from the HDF 5th István Bocskai Infantry Brigade, and the HDF Civil-Military Cooperation and Psychological Operations Centre are also deployed on the exercise in different positions. 

Photos by the author