Hungarian Soldiers Perform Excellently Again

Exercise Silver Sabre 2 took place in Camp Vrelo near Pristina between 21-26 November, with a dual objective, namely to test the operational capability of KFOR units and to practice cooperation with the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) in various crowd riot control (CRC) tasks.

The exercise started with battle staff training and the practice of the military decision-making process. During this, the members of the subunits conducted cross training to familiarize themselves with each other’s procedures for executing CRC tasks.

The second half of the week focused on practical tasks. During the static and dynamic displays held for more than 100 guests, the designated forces dispersed a violent “mob demonstration" resulting from a fictitious political scenario.

The Kosovo Police and the EULEX forces deployed to deal with the civil disturbance were unable to bring the situation under control, so they requested assistance from KFOR. After deploying to the scene, the Portuguese-Hungarian companies of the KTM Battalion, which stabilized the situation and created calm circumstances for the negotiations.

The headquarters and the subunits were assigned the challenging task of coordinating the work of the Kosovo Police and EULEX, the KFOR maneuver companies, the EOD units and the freedom of movement detachments (FOMD). Despite all the challenges, the professional work of the Hungarian, Portuguese, Austrian, Slovenian, Danish, Italian, US and Kosovan troops, and the Polish and Kosovan policemen gained unanimous recognition among the guests.

KFOR Deputy Commander Brig.-Gen. Christian Riener assessed as excellent the work of the soldiers of the KTM Battalion, including the Hungarian company. The DCOM KFOR pointed out that the exercise could not have been conducted at such a high level without them.