Change Of Command Ceremony In The West

Outgoing commander Colonel Vincenzo Grasso, Commander, Italian 9th Infantry Regiment took over commanding the MNBG-W four months ago. Col. Grasso is the commander of the regiment stationed in Trani, Italy, that makes up most of the main forces in the area of responsibility of the MNBG-W. Incoming commander Colonel Davide Di Bartolo and his subordinate personnel have come from the 24th Artillery Regiment of Messina, Sicily and arrived more than two weeks ago to the area of responsibility. The new commander has been a professional soldier since 1984, served tours of duty in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the FYRM, Iraq, Afghanistan, and twice in Kosovo as a peacekeeper, in various positions.

The commander of KFOR, Lt.Gen. Markus J. Bentler, mayors of districts in the area of responsibility, religious leaders, and the senior officials of international organisations – OSCE, UN, UNMIK – working in Kosovo were also present at the change of command ceremony. Col. Grasso emphasised in his speech that the last eight months have given him a great opportunity to see the beauties of Kosovo and to have an insight into the difficulties the country has to face day after day. There was a lot to do in this period but they have managed to make considerable progress, the security situation is stable in the area of responsibility of the MNBG-W.

Lt.Gen. Bentler underlined in his speech that the soldiers of nations present in the parade ground were not always standing on the same side, but now all of them are fighting for the same noble cause. The commander of KFOR pointed out that even though the number of KFOR personnel is gradually decreasing, changes in the number of soldiers cannot and do not have an impact on the primary task of the mission, the establishment and maintenance of security.

Following the speeches, Col. Vincenzo Grasso received the ’Non-Article 5’ NATO medal from Lt.Gen. Markus J. Bentler, in recognition of his work in the mission. The outgoing commander of the MNBG-W also received the ’Service Sign for Peacekeeping’ awarded by Minister of Defence Dr. Imre Szekeres and presented by Lt.Col. Attila Boczák. Finally Col. Vincenzo Grasso handed the mission colours over to his successor, Col. Davide Di Bartolo.