 From the middle of January to the beginning of April 1918, he commanded the army front consisting of the I. and VII.Armies, extending from the Dniester to the south-eastern corner of Transylvania.Entrusted after the withdrawal of Bulgaria with the thankless task of the command of the troops in the Balkans, Kövess could do nothing more than arrange for the evacuation of the occupied territories according to plan, and for the defence of the Danube-Sava line.