Col. Gen. Lajos Fodor (born 27 July 1947) is a retired Hungarian military officer and diplomat, who served as the Chief of the

General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Hungary The Chief of General Staff (; between 2019 and 2022: Commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces ()) is the highest-ranking military officer in the Hungarian Defence Forces and is responsible for maintaining control over the service branches. He ...

from 1 August 1999 to 28 February 2003.

Career

Fodor functioned as First Deputy Chief of General Staff from 1996 to 1999, in this capacity, he had a significant role in Hungary's accession to the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

(NATO). He served as Deputy Secretary of State for Defence Policy between 15 February and 31 July 1999, under Minister János Szabó. He suspended his military service for that short time. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff and promoted to Colonel General by President

Árpád Göncz Árpád Göncz (; 10 February 1922 – 6 October 2015) was a Hungarian writer, translator, lawyer and liberal politician who served as President of Hungary from 2 May 1990 to 4 August 2000. Göncz played a role in the Hungarian Revolution of 19 ...

on 1 August 1999. He also served as Commander of the Hungarian Army until 2001, when the General Staff was integrated to the Ministry of Defence and the military's command function abolished. His relationship with the new Minister Ferenc Juhász has broken down in 2002. Ferenc Mádl acquitted him from his position on 28 February 2003. He was awarded Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest Order (honour), State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the Order of ...

then. After that he entered the diplomatic career, when he was appointed Hungarian Ambassador to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He held that function until 2007. He became Secretary of State for Administration under Defence Minister

Csaba Hende Csaba Hende (born 5 February 1960) is a Hungarian politician who served as Minister of Defence of Hungary from 29 May 2010 to 9 September 2015 when he resigned. Hende was born in Szombathely in 1960. In 1983 he graduated in law at the Eötv� ...

in the Second Cabinet of Viktor Orbán. He was replaced by István Dankó on 31 January 2013.Átvette kinevezését Dankó István
''kormany.hu''

Promotions

Fodor's promotions according to his CV: *1970 – Lieutenant *1974 – Captain *1979 – Major *1983 – Lieutenant Colonel *1986 – Colonel *1992 – Major General *1997 – Lieutenant General *1999 – Colonel General

Awards and decorations

* Order of

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (; ; ; ; ; – 11 August 1456) was a leading Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian military and political figure during the 15th century, who served as Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Kingdom of Hungary ...

(2001)

References

Sources

Official CV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fodor, Lajos 1947 births Living people People from Debrecen Hungarian generals Hungarian politicians Ambassadors of Hungary to Australia Ambassadors of Hungary to New Zealand Commander's Crosses with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (military)