V4 EU Battlegroup Completes Standby Duty

The idea of setting up a V4 Battlegroup dates back to earlier times, as the political and military preparations for the standby period took five years, as a result of which the battlegroup personnel was placed on standby and ready to deploy from 1 January to 30 June 2016. Under Polish lead, an Operational Headquarters (OHQ) was set up in Cracow as the sixth operational command, responsible for directing the operations of the Battlegroup. During the last six months, besides maintaining the state of readiness, the leaders of the framework nation and the capability modules held joint training events and battle staff training programs for the experts posted to the Battlegroup and the OHQ.

The Hungarian Defence Forces contributed 716 troops to the standby duties, and declared some important capabilities to the Battlegroup such as Close Air Support (CAS) and special operations, engineering and non-kinetic elements. At the end of the standby period, Poland as a framework nation organized an official closing ceremony at the Cracow OHQ on 30 June, which was hosted by Maj.-Gen. Cezary Podlasinski, operational-strategic commander of the V4 EU Battlegroup. The representatives of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary also attended the event, and also several Polish politicians and the officials of the European Union. Hungary was represented by five soldiers.

In his speech delivered at the official ceremony, Hungarian Senior National Representative Col. Gábor Lőrincz emphasized the importance of military cooperation among the V4 countries, adding that it will continue be of crucial significance in the future too. He pointed out Hungary’s commitment to the Battlegroup, and finally thanked Poland for carrying out the organization-related tasks by high standards. A number of participants received tokens of appreciation for their work. After the ceremony, the members of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association informed the colonel about their intention to cooperate with the Hungarian Scout Association through the Hungarian Defence Forces.

The experts all agreed that the OHQ and the international personnel on standby have proven that they are up to the tasks, so this mission is expected to continue. The next stand-by period is planned to start in 2019, and its planning conference – to be held in Budapest this September and organized by the Hungarian General Staff Operations Directorate – will provide an opportunity to assign lead nations to the capability modules.

Photos by the author