Tibor Benkő (general officer)

The native form of this personal name is Benkő Tibor. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Tibor Benkő (born 16 October 1955) is a Hungarian military officer and government official. He served as the Minister of Defence from 2018 to 2022. He previously was a four-star general in the Hungarian Defence Forces, serving as Chief of the Defence Staff from 6 June 2010^[1] until 16 May 2018.

Tibor Benkő
Born	(1955-10-16) 16 October 1955 (age 69) Nyíregyháza, Hungary
Allegiance	Hungary
Years of service	1975–2018
Rank	Colonel General
Commands	General Staff of the Armed Forces of Hungary
Battles / wars	Iraq War, War in Afghanistan
Awards	Commander's Cross with Star of the Hungarian Order of Merit Commander of the Legion of Merit
Other work	Minister of Defence of Hungary

Following the 2018 parliamentary election, General Benkő was nominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to serve as Minister of Defence, it was alleged that he would be both a soldier and a minister.^[2]

Personal life

General Benkő is married and has two daughters.^[3]

Awards and decorations

1st row	Hungarian Order of Merit Commander's Cross with Star on military ribbon	Hungarian Order of Merit Officer's Cross on military ribbon	Hungarian Order of Merit Knight's Cross military ribbon	Merit Medal for Service with Laurel Wreath
2nd row	Merit Medal for Service Gold Cross	Medal for Service to the Country (HPR) Silver Medal	Service Medals for Officers 1st class	Medal for Service to the Country (HPR) Bronze Medal
3rd row	Meritorious Service Medal HPR (1964) for 10 years service	Service Medal for Flood Protection	Service Medal for Flood Protection	Service Medals for Officers 2nd class
4th row	Service Medals for Officers 3rd class	Commander of the Legion of Merit (2012)[4][5]	Legion of Honour Officier