They Work For A Safe, Strong Afghanistan

Brigadier General Frank Leidenberger, Commander, Regional Command North (RCN), ISAF; Hajji Akhbar Barakzai, the governor of the province; and Razul Kahn, the chairman of the general assembly of the province were also present at the transfer of authority ceremony held on March 8. The governmental leaders of Baghlan province, the dignitaries of the district and the province, and representatives of partners participating in the developments were also invited.

In his address Gen. Leidenberger praised the Hungarian PRT, led by Colonel László Szabó, for their work in the last six months, and greeted Colonel Dr. Gábor Boldizsár and the eighth rotation serving under his command. Following that, Col. László Szabó received the NATO medal from Brig.Gen. Leidenberger, the commander of the RCN. In his farewell speech Col. László Szabó referred to the developments that require a lot of work. He thanked the RCN commander and the Afghan governmental bodies for their support, and handed over the unit colours to the commander of the PRT-8. Colonel Boldizsár congratulated the personnel of PRT-7 on the work successfully done despite the deteriorating security situation. As regards the future, he said the PRT-8 will follow the road of successful developments and projects, relying on the support of the RCN commander and the cooperation of Afghan people. “Our guiding principle continues to be: together with the Afghan people for the future of Afghanistan! The establishment of a safe, strong Afghanistan is in our mutual interest!" – Col. Boldizsár closed his speech.

Col. László Szabó, the outgoing commander received a recognition from István Tölli, the representative of the Hungarian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and a gift from Brig.Gen. Dr. András Németh, the commander of the HDF ‘Dr. György Radó’ Military Health Care Centre (and medical chief of the HDF). The ceremony ended with the salute of the units comprising troops of three nations – Hungarian, Croatian, Montenegrin – and the Szózat.

The local media showed significant interest in the press conference following the ceremony, since almost a dozen representatives of televisions, radio stations and print media accepted the invitation of the Hungarian PRT. As the last event of the transfer of authority ceremony, Col. Boldizsár handed over the ISAF flag that has been flapping in Pol-e Khumri for months to Col. Szabó. "With this flag we wish the seventh rotation a safe journey home to their families and an undisturbed rest after a job well done. They deserve it!" – said the colonel.