Twenty Years of MFO in Pictures

Szöveg: Gábor Kálmánfi | 2016. április 15. 9:00

Between 1995 and 2015, the Hungarian Defence Forces were actively engaged in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) peacekeeping mission on the Sinai Peninsula. On Monday, 4 April an exhibition opened at the HDF Joint Force Command (HDF JFC) showing the past two decades of the mission in pictures.

Before the opening of the exhibition, on behalf of Maj.-Gen. János Huszár, Acting Commander of the HDF JFC, Col. István Topor, the chief of the HDF JFC Operations Control Directorate emphasized that the collection of photos on view present the “success story" of the mission over the last twenty years.

“At the beginning, many thought that the Sinai was a peninsula of calm. Those who served there, especially in the last few years, can testify that unfortunately, it turned out to be untrue. At any rate, working under changing security circumstances, our soldiers and policemen deployed there all performed their duties by high professional standards, in an exemplary cooperation with each other", the colonel pointed out.

Dr. Zoltán Kalmár, an associate professor at Pannon University briefly outlined the history of the MFO mission, and assessed the performance of the contingents serving there. He concluded that Hungary’s substantial contribution has brought benefits in several fields.

“Besides the individual experience of those serving with the mission, we must make mention of the fact that for foreign countries, the service in the Sinai has created an image of Hungary as a nation that supports peace by all means, and indirectly, it produced positive results in the national defence of Hungary, a member of NATO", the associate professor emphasized.