The Contribution of the Hungarian Defence Forces to Crisis Management in Kosovo 1999–2011

The situation emerging also in Kosovo in the wake of the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia is much more complicated than a mere debate on territorial identity and ethnic origin. The settlement of the issue lands the Parties concerned in difficulty, as Kosovo is a territory with a historical inheritance that is claimed by all the nationalities living there. First of all, Kosovo’s security situation calls attention to the fact that the real opportunity for a peaceful co-existence of the States of the Western Balkans and for the prevention of other security risks can only be co-existence in a certain kind of supranational union. Because of the above-said, the most important challenge in the Hungarian Defence Forces’ international roles is the participation in the peacekeeping operations of the 50,000-strong KFOR mission established by 39 countries. In the framework of this mission, Hungarian troops have been performing peacekeeping duties since 1999. During this period, several rotations of the HDF KFOR contingent contributed to the maintenance of peace and to the improvement of the locals’ living standards. Illustrated with many documents and colour pictures, the book wishes to present the area of responsibility, tasks and everyday life of these units in the mission. As a result, we get a comprehensive and diverse picture of the twelve years, regarded as one of the longest yet most efficient NATO-mission of the Hungarian Defence Forces.