Hungarian Chairmanship at the Multinational Engineer Battalion Tisa

Szöveg: honvedelem.hu | 2019. január 25. 13:49

Lieutenant General Gábor Böröndi Ph.D., Deputy Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces travelled to Kiev on Thursday, 24th January to take over the chairmanship position of the Multinational Engineer Battalion Tisa from Lieutenant General Sherhii Bessarab, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In September this year – during their joint exercise in Hungary – the battalion will debut in a new scene with new capabilities.

By virtue of the decision taken at the Multinational Engineer Battalion Tisa (MEB Tisa) Steering Group’s session staged in Ukraine last autumn, in 2019 Hungary takes over the lead nation role of the Battalion – accordingly, this year Hungary gives the Chairman of the Steering Group, the Commander of the Battalion, and the command post exercise (CPX) „Blonde Avalanche 2019" coupled with computer simulation will be carried out in Hungary.

The handover-takeover ceremony of the lead-nation role takes place in Kiev, 24th January. The Battalion Commander’s duties will be performed in 2019 by Lieutenant Colonel Ferenc Zsóri belonging to the personnel of the HDF 5th Bocskai István Infantry Brigade.

In case of floods occurring on the catchment area of the River Tisza, and of other types of natural disasters, ecological catastrophes, the fundamental function of the Hungarian-Romanian-Slovak-Ukrainian common subunit of the close to 700 strong Tisa Battalion is to provide relief to the population affected, and to participate in repairing damage. The staff of the temporary military organisation consisting of four engineer companies conducts a post exercise every year. The organisation and the protection tools were formed so as to be able to effectively intervene, save lives and reinforce levees during floods. The commander is always given by the country on the territory of which the exercise is conducted.