End of the HDF Mission in Iraq
Szöveg: Gábor Kálmánfi | 2011. október 3. 14:38The role of the Hungarian Defence Forces in Iraq concluded with a “Welcome Home ceremony” held at the HDF Joint Force Command (HDF JFC) on September 28. Lt.-Col. László Tempfli, Maj. (Eng.) Virgil Baranyai and Maj. (Eng.) Gyula Varjú have returned from the NATO Training Mission – Iraq (NTM-I) as the last Hungarian soldiers to serve in the Arab country. Hungarian troops have participated in the stabilization process since August 2003. During the Welcome Home ceremony held on Wednesday, several other soldiers and policemen were greeted upon their return from missions in Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Sinai Peninsula, Serbia, Georgia and Somalia.
The Prime Minister of Iraq requested the Alliance in the autumn of 2006 to expand the scope of the NTM-I activities in order to support the re-training of the Iraqi national police into a paramilitary police force. NATO responded positively to the request at the 2006 November Riga Summit. The Hungarian Defence Forces provided further technical support for Iraq by offering 77 unused T-72 tanks and 33 APCs within a NATO initiative.
From 2007 on, initially a 15-man Hungarian Military Advisory Liaison Team (MALT) deployed to serve under the NTM-I, then, as from August 2008, a three-man staff officer team served in key positions related to the training of the local forces.
The Iraqi mission was not without dangers: in 2004, 38 Hungarian troops were wounded in a suicide bomb attack. The same year posthumous Lieutenant Richárd Nagy made the supreme sacrifice for the peace in Iraq.
Brig.-Gen. Csaba Nagy praised the work done by the personnel who returned home, noting that “through their service they have strengthened their own reputation and the positive image of Hungary on an international scale, earning respect both from the Hungarian and the international public".
At the event the returning soldiers and policemen received medals in recognition of their service.
Photos by the author
