Hungarian Soldier Receives Polish Medal in Sarajevo

Szöveg: 1st Lt. Ildikó Hübler | 2017. július 10. 6:04

A Hungarian senior officer serving at the EUFOR HQ in Bosnia-Herzegovina recently received the “PACI SERVIO” medal from the Polish EUFOR Contingent.

The 17th “Wielkopolska" Mechanized Infantry Brigade providing the current rotation of the Polish EUFOR Contingent celebrated its 21st anniversary on 30 June. The soldiers of the contingent commemorated the anniversary with a parade. At the ceremony, Polish Contingent Commander Lt.-Col. Dariusz Huryn presented the medal to Lt.-Col. Róbert Nagy, a Hungarian senior officer serving at the EUFOR HQ.

In Hungary, Lt.-Col. Róbert Nagy serves on the staff of the HDF Peace Support Training Centre in Szolnok. At the EUFOR HQ, he has been head of the Capacity Building Branch within the Capacity Building and Training Division since November 2016. The personnel of this 33-strong branch consists of soldiers from nine nations (Albania, Austria, Chile, Poland, Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, Spain and Turkey). The Capacity Building Branch has ten Embedded Advisory Teams (EAT) in total at general staff, operations and support command and brigade levels. The branch actively contributes to implementing one of the main objectives of Operation EUFOR ALTHEA, which is to support the capacity building and training of the armed forces of the BiH, and thereby help their future Euro-Atlantic integration.

In such an international environment, establishing proper communication and working relationship with subordinates and colleagues is a token of the efficient, successful and seamless work process. “You cannot lead such a multinational team by resorting to authority or brute force, you have to learn to find a common ground with everyone. There are cultural differences and, in some cases, differences in mentalities too, but this is normal in such a multinational operation, and this is what gives its beauty", Lt.-Col. Róbert Nagy said. The present one is the lieutenant-colonel’s fourth tour of duty abroad, and he is scheduled to stay in Bosnia-Herzegovina until November 2017.

“I have six Polish subordinates, and since I speak Polish thanks to my previous military studies, I can also speak with them in their native tongue besides English, the official language of the operation", Lt.-Col. Nagy added.

Currently close to 20 Hungarian soldiers are serving in individual staff positions at the Headquarters of Operation EUFOR ALTHEA in Sarajevo.