Chief of Italian Army General Staff Visits Hódmezővásárhely

The Italian–Hungarian military cooperation started more than ten years ago, so the meeting had special significance to both sides. Considering that the professional visit was limited to one day, the commander of the HDF Joint Force Command received his guest in the Hódmezővásárhely garrison of the HDF 5th Bocskai István Infantry Brigade, where, as part of the talks, Col. László Szép, Hungarian–Italian liaison officer informed the delegation about the bilateral relations. In what followed, Col. László Garas, the force planning chief of the HDF Joint Force Command gave a presentation on the organization and structure of the command as well as its assigned military organizations. Col. Zoltán Bárány, the land forces operations and training chief talked about the issue of developing the Italian–Hungarian military cooperation in the future, which was another important element of the professional talks.

After the discussion, the unit held a static display, during which Lt.-Gen. Graziano and his entourage were introduced to the weapons and technical equipment in service with the Hungarian Defence Forces. In what followed, the guests watched a tactical demonstration held by the infantry battle group, which was recently certified as “Combat Ready" in the NATO CREVAL and is mainly drawn from the personnel of the 62nd infantry battalion of Hódmezővásárhely. The two events demonstrated here may occur during the potential deployment of the battalion in NATO-led operations.

During the discussions, Maj.-Gen. Domján and his guest declared that both sides consider it very important to maintain and further develop their cooperation, which is based on solid foundations. The program of the delegation in Hódmezővásárhely closed with a visit to the Memorial Point Museum.