HISTORY

In 1977, chief editors, and directors of important national and international military newspapers and periodicals from several European nations met for a first exchange of ideas upon the initiative of the Italian General Dionisio Sepielli.

For the first time, participants could share their journalistic experiences with regard to military periodicals in person discussions.

In 1978, Divisionär (Major General) Ernst Wetter (Switzerland) assumed the office of the executive president, thus taking on the by no means easy task to prepare the ground for the planned association of military journalists.

In 1980, the first statues of EMPA were passed during a meeting at the Führungsakademie (Federal Armed Forces Command and Staff College) in Hamburg. The first Board, headed by Lieutenant Colonel Christian Alexander Müller (Germany) as its president, was elected.

Until 1992, nine congress and several meetings were held, during which the armed forces of different nations were visited. At the congress in Budapest, Hungary, Brigadier General Winfried Vogel (Germany) took over the presidency of EMPA in 1992. He was re-elected for a further in office in Warsaw in 1996.

In 1997, during the general meeting at Koblenz, Germany, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Gerard (Belgium) was elected as successor of General Vogel, who had fallen ill. In 1999 at Wiener Neustadt, Austria, Colonel Friedhelm Klein (Germany), was elected president of the Association.

The present Articles of Association were approved by the General Assembly in Warsaw on 17 October 1996, modified in Spiez on 20 September 2000, changed again in Split on 1 October 2002, and amended again in Budapest on 18 October 2017, thus becoming effective on the latter date.

Currently, the Association has members in 22 European nations, working as journalists in military affairs or as experts publishing about security and defence policy matters in military or other media.

EMPA Meetings / Congresses

Number Year Place Country

1 1977 Rome (Meeting) Italy

2 1978 Lugano (Meeting) Switzerland

3 1980 Hamburg Germany

4 1982 Vienna Austria

5 1984 Den Haag Netherlands

6 1985 Bodenmais (Meeting) Germany

7 1986 Brussels Belgium

8 1987 Bodenmais (Meeting) Germany

9 1988 Salzburg Austria

10 1989 Amersfort (Meeting) Netherlands

11 1990 Bern Switzerland

12 1991 Bodenmais (Meeting) Germany

13 1992 Budapest Hungary

14 1993 Lugano Switzerland

15 1994 Rijswijk Netherlands

16 1995 Prague Czech Republic

17 1996 Warsaw Poland

18 1997 Koblenz Germany

19 1998 Brussels Belgium

20 1999 Wiener Neustadt Austria

21 2000 Spiez Switzerland

22 2001 Balatongyörök Hungary

23 2002 Split Croatia

24 2003 Gdynia Poland

25 2004 Oslo Norway

26 2005 Bratislava Slovakia

27 2006 Brussels (Special Event) Belgium

28 2007 Ljubljana Slovenia

29 2008 Riga Latvia

30 2009 Vienna Austria

31 2010 Belgrade Serbia

32 2011 Lucerne Switzerland

33 2012 Prague Czech Republic

34 2013 Helsinki Finland

35 2014 Tartu/Tallinn Estonia

36 2015 Berlin Germany

37 2016 Oslo Norway

38 2017 Budapest Hungary

39 2018 Rotterdam (Meeting) Netherlands

40 2019 Vienna Austria

Presidents

Major General Dionisio Sepielli, Italy, 1977-1978
Major General Ernst Wetter, Switzerland, 1978-1980
Lieutenant Colonel Christian Alexander Müller, Germany, 1980-1992
Brigadier General Dr. Winfried Vogel, Germany, 1992-1997
Lieutenant Colonel Henri Gerard, Belgium, 1997-1999
Colonel Friedhelm Klein, Germany, 1999-2003
Mr. Tor Eigil Stordahl, Norway, 2003-2007
Colonel Dr. Jörg Aschenbrenner, Austria, 2007-2011
Mrs. Liga Lakuca, Latvia, 2011-2015
BrigGen Wolfgang Peischel, PhD, Austria, 2015-

1st Vice Presidents

Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Scotti, Italy, 1980-1982
Major H. van Hulzen, The Netherlands, 1982-1983
Colonel J. de Lange, The Netherlands, 1983-1994
Colonel Roberto Vecchi, Switzerland, 1994-1999
Brigadier General (retd) Prof. Dr. Horst Mäder, Austria, 1999-2003
Mr. Wojciech Luczak, Poland, 2003-2007
Mrs. Liga Lakuca, Latvia, 2007-2011
MSC Senior Advisor Roman Bric, Slovenia, 2011-2015
Mrs Regula Ferrari-Hasler, Switzerland, 2015-2019
Ms Jojo Mulder, Netherlands 2019-

2nd Vice Presidents

Dr. László Dobos, Hungary,1983
Colonel Edwin Hofstetter, Switzerland, 1983-1995
Colonel Antoni Witkowski, Poland, 1995-1999
Colonel Werner Hungerbühler, 1999-2003
Colonel Helmut Fischer, Germany, 2003-2007
Lieutenant Colonel John Durnin, Ireland, 2007-2011
Colonel Dr. phil./MA Hans Wegmüller, Switzerland, 2011-2015
Mr. Ilkko Mikko, Finland, 2015-

Secretary Generals

Dr. Heinz Magenheimer, Austria, 1980-1982
Major Genot, Begium, 1982-1983
Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Bocklet, Germany, 1983-1999
Colonel Helmut Fischer, Germany, 1999-2003
Mr. Erling Eikli, Norway, 2003-2007
Colonel Karl-Heinz Leitner, Austria, 2007-2011
Colonel GS Raimonds Nitiss, Latvia, 2011-2013
Mr. Erling Eikli, Norway, 2013-2015
Colonel (retd) Karl-Heinz Leitner, Austria, 2015-2019
Mr. Ilkko Mikko, Finland 2019-