A ceremony to mark the handover of the position of EUFOR Chief of Staff (COS) took place at Camp Butmir today, 01st March 2013. The ceremony took place in the presence of Commander EUFOR, Major General Dieter HEIDECKER and Brigadier General János HUSZÁR, who is Head of Land Forces at Hungary’s Joint Force Command. In attendance were Ambassadors from the representative countries, Senior Officers of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Senior National Representatives from the 23 EUFOR troop contributing nations.
An Honour Guard comprising of personnel from the Multi-National Battalion was present and marked the formal transfer of authority from Brigadier General Ernő Péter SIPOSS to the new CoS Brigadier General József SZPISJÁK. Brigadier General SIPOSS has served as COS for 13 months and on his departure said: “It was a great pleasure and privilege to work with so many highly professional people. I have dedicated my time here to support the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in building new capabilities and to support the efforts of the local authorities in maintaining a Safe and Secure Environment for the people of BiH. EUFOR will undoubtedly continue with these laudable aims and I wish my successor all best wishes and every success for his time in this beautiful country.”
Brigadier General SZPISJÁK joins EUFOR HQ with a distinguished military pedigree: in 2009 he completed the General Staff Course in BUDAPEST and was appointed to the Head of Department for Planning and Coordination in the Hungarian Ministry of Defence. He has been a Brigadier General since 2011, served extensively with NATO and is one of the few Hungarian military officers to be decorated with the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, which is the highest level of recognition awarded by NATO.
Chief Press Officer:
Lt Col Otmar Lindner
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Spokesperson:
Lt Cdr Gareth Jones RN
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