The Avars do defeat Sigebert in 566 but have nonetheless to stop; in the meantime the Göktürks, in pursuit of their former subjects, remain a real danger.

The Avars, traditionally a nomadic people, desperately need both shelter and pasture for their livestock, but the route to Pannonia is blocked by impassable mountains covered with thick forests: the Carpathian range.

It is in the critical winter of 566-567 that the Avars, stuck in what is now eastern Germany, are sent feelers by Alboin, the strong ruler of the Lombards and brother-in-law of Sigebert, who seeks an alliance to crush his old enemies the Gepids.

These last ones, by chance, control the only practical way from the Lower Danube to the Pannonian pastures craved by the Avars, who are skilled in a sort of perfidious diplomacy that will help them pursue their objectives.