Dr. István Simicskó Visits Ohio

Speaking in Columbus, the minister of defence said that “Our American colleagues shared useful experience with us for the renewal of the Hungarian system of volunteer reserve to be reorganized on a territorial basis. The role of national armed forces is gaining significance, and NATO recognizes the value of systems of volunteer reserve units based on territory defence.

The close cooperation between the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Ohio National Guard (ONG) has been going on for 20 years now. In connection with the engagement in the operations in Kosovo, the ONG has offered four staff officer positions in its staff to be deployed with KFOR, to be filled between November 2016 and July 2017.

At the meeting, Dr. István Simicskó emphasized that “We highly appreciate the initiative of the Ohio National Guard, and are pleased to have another opportunity to co-deploy in an area of operations. We attach importance to our cooperation with the ONG and are open to continue it and extend its scope".

The topics of the discussion included continuing participation in an growing number of joint exercises and training events.

On Friday, 14 October the Hungarian minister of defence visited Tampa, Florida where he held discussions with Gen. Joseph Votel, commander, United States Central Command (US CENTCOM), and with Vice Admiral Sean A. Pybus, the Deputy Commander of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Cover photo: archive