Only a Few Days Left in the Area of Operations…

“We are nearing the end of an eventful mission. In my opinion, the soldiers of the sixth rotation – who are mainly drawn from the HDF 5th ‘Bocskai István’ Infantry Brigade – have fully accomplished their tasks. Through their disciplined attitude and the outstanding execution of their tasks, they have been able to further enhance the good reputation of Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces", Lt.-Col. András Polyák said in assessing the work done in the last six months.

Lt.-Col. András Polyák stressed that being deployed as part of the Portuguese–Hungarian joint KFOR Tactical Reserve Maneuver Battalion KTM), over the last six months the Hungarian soldiers’ core tasks have been to ensure freedom of movement and to maintain a safe and secure environment for the civilian population. In addition, they conducted presence patrolling several times, mainly in the Serb- and Albanian-populated town of Mitrovica, Northern Kosovo, and they were tasked with removing road blocks too.

The members of the Hungarian contingent also had time to conduct training programs in the last six months. They regularly held skills maintenance sessions to practice crowd riot control (CRC) tasks, redeployed by helicopters and mounted multinational exercises on many occasions. Of course, besides all this, they gave 24/7 standby service and continued mentoring the members of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF).

As there are only a few days left before the end of the mission, the most important tasks for now are to make arrangements for the arrival of the new rotation and to prepare for the handover-takeover process. The official transfer of authority ceremony will take place on August 26.

When the sixth rotation returns to Hungary, the soldiers of the contingent will undergo medical screening and attend a traditional welcome home ceremony. According to plans, the latter event will be organized in Debrecen on September 4.

Photo: Tünde Rácz