The Chief of General Staff (Hungarian: Honvéd Vezérkar főnöke; between 2019 and 2022: Commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces (Hungarian: a Magyar Honvédség Parancsnoka)) is the highest-ranking military officer in the Hungarian Defence Forces and is responsible for maintaining control over the service branches.

He is responsible for development, organisation, and equipping, training and functioning of the first strategic echelon (stand-by forces) and the other strategic echelon (reserve). The Defence Forces Command coordinates the tasks of the armed forces of the Republic of Hungary, develops recommendations for the planning, organisation and supervision of the Ministry's military duties, and for the development of combat capability.

Since 2007, the Hungarian Defence Forces is under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains the political and civilian control of the military.

On 1 January 2019, the General Staff and the Joint Forces Command[hu] were merged to create the Defence Forces Command. On 1 January 2023 it was renamed to General Staff.

The current chief of general staff is Gábor Böröndi.

List of officeholders

Royal Hungarian Army (1922−1945)

No.PortraitChief of the General StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in officeRef.
1Lorx, ViktorLieutenant general Viktor Lorx[hu] (1873–1922)4 January 192229 June 1922 †176 days
2Janky, KocsárdCavalry general Kocsárd Janky (1868–1954)25 October 192226 May 19307 years, 331 days
3Rőder, VilmosInfantry general Vilmos Rőder (1881–1969)26 May 193016 January 19354 years, 235 days
4Somkuthy, JózsefInfantry general József Somkuthy (1883–1961)16 January 19355 September 19361 year, 233 days
5Rátz, JenőLieutenant general Jenő Rátz (1882–1949)5 September 193624 May 19381 year, 261 days
6Keresztes-Fischer, LajosLieutenant general Lajos Keresztes-Fischer (1884–1948)24 May 193829 September 1938128 days
7Werth, HenrikGeneral Henrik Werth (1881–1952)29 September 19384 September 19412 years, 340 days
8Szombathelyi, FerencColonel general Ferenc Szombathelyi (1887–1946)4 September 194119 April 19442 years, 228 days
9Vörös, JánosColonel general János Vörös (1891–1968)10 May 194416 October 1944159 days
10Beregfy, KárolyColonel general Károly Beregfy (1888–1946)16 October 194430 April 1945196 days

Hungarian People's Army (1945−1990)

No.PortraitChief of the General StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in officeRef.
1Vörös, JánosColonel general János Vörös (1891–1968)15 November 19451 September 1946290 days
Vacant 1946–1948
2Sólyom, LászlóLieutenant general László Sólyom[hu] (1908–1950)194820 May 19501–2 years
3Bata, IstvánLieutenant general István Bata (1910–1982)20 May 195010 August 19533 years, 82 days
4Székely, BélaMajor general Béla Székely11 August 195322 November 19541 year, 103 days
5Tóth, LajosMajor general Lajos Tóth[hu] (1922–2012)22 November 1954October 19561 year, 10 months
6Kovács, IstvánMajor general István Kovács (1911–2011)October 1956November 19561 month
7Hegyi, LászlóMajor general László HegyiNovember 195619570–1 years
8Ugrai, FerencLieutenant general Ferenc Ugrai[hu] (1922–2006)195719635–6 years
9Ugrai, FerencLieutenant general Károly Csémi[hu] (1922–1992)196319 January 19739–10 years
10Ugrai, FerencColonel general István Oláh (1926–1985)19 January 19736 December 198411 years, 322 days
11Pacsek, JózsefLieutenant general József Pacsek[hu] (1928–2009)6 December 19841 December 19894 years, 360 days
12Borsits, LászlóLieutenant general László Borsits[hu] (born 1939)1 December 19891 March 199090 days

Honvédség (1990−present)

The army is called Magyar Honvédség since the end of communism in Hungary.

No.PortraitChief of the General StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in officeRef.
1Borsits, LászlóLieutenant general László Borsits[hu] (born 1939)1 March 19908 September 19911 year, 191 days
2Deák, JánosColonel general János Deák9 September 199131 October 19943 years, 52 days
3Németh, SándorLieutenant general Sándor Németh1 November 19945 June 19961 year, 217 days
4Végh, FerencLieutenant general Ferenc Végh[hu] (born 1948)6 June 199631 July 19993 years, 56 days
5Fodor, LajosColonel general Lajos Fodor (born 1947)1 August 199928 February 20033 years, 211 days
6Szenes, ZoltánLieutenant general Zoltán Szenes (born 1951)1 March 200331 January 20051 year, 336 days
7Havril, AndrásColonel general András Havril[hu] (born 1951)1 February 200515 January 20093 years, 349 days
8Tömböl, LászlóColonel general László Tömböl[hu] (born 1957)16 January 20095 June 20101 year, 140 days
9Benkő, TiborColonel general Tibor Benkő (born 1957)6 June 201016 May 20187 years, 344 days
10Korom, FerencColonel general Ferenc Korom (born 1964)16 May 20181 June 20213 years, 16 days
11Ruszin, RomuluszLieutenant general Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi (born 1973)3 June 202127 April 20231 year, 328 days
12Böröndi, GáborColonel general Gábor Böröndi (born 1971)27 April 2023Incumbent2 years, 355 days

See also