EU Battle Group Starts Service

Inside the Kossuth barracks of the HDF 5th ‘Bocskai István’ Infantry Brigade, Lt.-Col. Zsolt Vantal, the commander of the Hungarian personnel reported that the European Union Battle Group (EU BG) had been placed on standby on July 1. This means that the EU BG is now ready to deploy to any area of the world on behalf of the EU within the time frame of the readiness posture as specified by law. The standby period lasts until December 31. For these six months, a special law governs the manner and time of the soldiers’ taking their paid leave as well as their leaving the area of Hungary.

The flag of the European Union was hoisted during the ceremony held in Kossuth barracks on Monday, then the event finished with a parade march.

The Italian–Slovenian–Hungarian EU Battle Group was formed on January 1, 2007. The participating countries uphold the authority to make sovereign decisions on the possible deployment of the EU rapid reaction forces. Each state retains its right to decide whether to allow the use for a given mission of its own units participating in the battle group.

Augmented with Italian and Slovenian units, the Hungarian soldiers are members of the EU Battle Group. This means that a company-sized force is on stand-by in Hungary, being ready to deploy abroad at a short notice to move. The designated personnel of the HDF 5th ‘Bocskai István’ Infantry Brigade 39th Infantry Battalion had been training for six months in order to be combat ready for the six-month standby period that commenced on July 1, 2012.

Previously the soldiers demonstrated their skills on various occasions. The training and certification programme included a platoon cross training of the Multinational Land Force (MLF) and culmination (full operational capability) exercises conducted in Hungary and Italy.

Photos by the author