The Regional Special Operations Component Command (R-SOCC), led by Hungary, has officially reached full operational capability, marking a major milestone in regional defence cooperation between Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia. With this achievement, the five nations now have a fully deployable multinational headquarters capable of commanding special operations forces missions together or supporting NATO and EU-led operations when needed.
R-SOCC strengthens the participating countries' ability to respond swiftly and effectively, and enables each nation to use its own special forces independently while also being ready to operate seamlessly as part of a combined multinational command structure.
R-SOCC mirrors the success of similar multinational initiatives such as the Composite Special Operations Component Command (C-SOCC) created by Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands, which became fully operational in 2020. R-SOCC was launched by the Defence Ministers of the five participating nations through a Letter of Intent signed in February 2019. This was followed by a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia in October 2019 and by Austria in December 2020.
R-SOCC is a positive demonstration of regional cooperation in Central Europe and an important contribution to the Alliance's readiness.
