The Beginning Of Long-Lasting Relations

The delegation of the Anciens Combattans, the association of the retired servicemen of the French armed forces and a key organization in representing and promoting the interests of its members, paid a visit to Hungary. During their official visit between 6 and 9 June, the French delegation was accompanied by Major András Posgay, the officer in charge of French relations at MoD’s Department for International Cooperation.

The senior officer told us that one of the most important goals of the visit was that the French organization could establish contact with the Hungarian military organizations and clubs of retired personnel.

Anciens Combattans is a social organization with a membership of more than 250,000 retired French servicemen and an independent state secretariat led by Jean-Marie Bockel within the French Ministry of Defence. The annual budget of the organization is 5 billion euros.

The day the French delegation arrived they laid a wreath in the Solymár Military Cemetery and on the memorial of the unknown soldier in Heroes’ Square in the capital. The flowers of remembrance were placed on the graves by Mr Richard Jungto, the honorary Hungarian consul with an office in the town of Mulhouse in France, and Lieutenant Colonel Roland Ardala, the leader of the French delegation.

The guests bowed their head in silence for a minute in both places to pay tribute to the memory of fallen soldiers, then the wreath laying ceremonies ended with the tunes of Il Silentio.

– We hope that this visit is the beginning of long-lasting relations, enabling retired French and Hungarian servicemen to become better acquainted with each other. The soldiers of two nations that used to be opponents – Richard Jungto told honvedelem.hu following the wreath laying ceremony in Heroes’ Square. The honorary Hungarian consul added: it is a coincidence but it is also symbolic that the wreath laying ceremonies took place on the anniversary of D-Day.

Richard Jungto also noted that unfortunately, there are too many French soldiers buried in Hungary, but with these events they wanted to honour the memory of not only the French war heroes but also the memory of fallen soldiers of all nations.

On Sunday, the members of the delegation went sightseeing in the capital, and on Monday, following a trip to Szentendre, Lieutenant General (Eng.) János Mikita, MoD Deputy Chief of Defence staff gave them a cocktail party in Stefánia Palace, where the guests met the representatives of the associations of retired Hungarian servicemen.

Tuesday morning the guests visited Gödöllõ, and left Hungary in the afternoon.