Brigadier General Tibor Szabó
was born in Kisvárda, Hungary, on 7 October 1976. After attending the Military Secondary School in Eger as a cadet, he pursued his studies at the national Bolyai János Military Technical College in Budapest and graduated from the Faculty of Supply and Finance in 1999.
His first assignment at the HDF 88th Rapid Reaction Battalion was followed by a deployment on a peace support operation in 2001 when he was posted to SFOR in Okučani, Croatia as a Platoon Commander of the Hungarian Engineer Contingent.
After completing his mission in the Balkans, he was posted to HDF 64th Logistics and Support Regiment, where he began working in the field of logistics support for Hungarian forces deployed abroad. From 2003, he continued supporting military missions and operations at the operational level as a planning officer in the Logistics Branch of the HDF Land Forces Command.
In 2004 he deployed to Cyprus to perform his duties as a logistics officer at the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Following his redeployment to Hungary in 2005, he held various staff positions, first at the HDF Land Forces Command and later at the HDF Joint Forces Command. During this period he worked in the fields of internal auditing, logistics and force planning, while earning a Master’s degree in Military Logistics from the Zrínyi Miklós National Defence University in 2011.
After demonstrating steadfast commitment in various roles, he was assigned to the newly established NATO Force Integration Unit - Hungary (NFIU HUN) in 2016, as Head of the Logistics Branch, responsible for logistics, medical and engineering support to operations. During his four years in this position, he was able to operationalize his expertise while gaining a deeper understanding of NATO procedures.
After the end of his NATO assignment, BG Szabó served in various leadership positions at the strategic level, first at the Logistics Inspectorate of the Hungarian Defence Forces Command and later at the Logistics Directorate of the Hungarian Defence Staff. As part of his highest military education, he attended Senior Course 138 at the NATO Defence College in Rome, Italy, in 2021, where he broadened his perspective on grand strategy and gained valuable insights into the ever-evolving global security environment.
He was appointed Director of Logistics Directorate of the Defence Staff, Hungarian Defence Forces, in March 2023 and promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on 21 May 2024.
His contributions to military service have been recognised with numerous awards. His medals and decorations include Service Honours of Gold Grade decorated with a Laurel Wreath, Service Signs for Merit (Gold, Silver, Bronze), Officer’s Service Signs (3rd and 2nd Classes), and Service Signs for in-country disaster relief operations as well as Service Medals related to non-Article 5 NATO and UN operations.
He was appointed as Chief of Staff of the European Union Force in BiH on 15 May 2025.
Outside his professional military career, Brigadier General Szabó is married and a proud father of a 17-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter.