President Janez Drnovsek, the commander-in-chief of Slovenian Armed Forces, visited on Tuesday Slovenian soldiers serving in the KFOR mission in Kosovo. The mission in Kosovo is proof that the Slovenian army is becoming increasingly professional and well trained, Drnovsek said in his speech.
The mission exceeds the usual military tasks: the troops have to work with the local community, gain their trust and help to normalise life in places where there has been no peaceful cohabitation for years, where the politicians have failed several times and where the KFOR is now to help, he said.
Drnovsek, who addressed the troops stationed in Pec at a ceremony marking Slovenian Armed Forced Day, added that this was how he saw the role of army in the future.
As part of the visit, Drnovsek met Colonel Dobran Bozic, deputy commander of the international NATO-led peacekeeping force in charge of Sector West, and Lieutenant Colonel Miha Skerbinc Barbo, the commander of the Slovenian contingent.
Drnovsek also talked to the KFOR chief commander, German Lieutenant General Roland Kather.
He is scheduled to meet Italian general Antonio Venci, the commander of the international forces in charge of Sector West.
The ceremony in Pec was also attended by Commander of the Force Command, Brigadier Alan Geder.
The 600-strong Slovenian contingent assumed control of the area around Pec in western Kosovo in February as the first Slovenian unit to take command of a whole sector in an international peacekeeping mission.
The biggest contingent of Slovenian soldiers to serve abroad since the country first sent its soldiers abroad on a peacekeeping mission in 1997, it assumed control of Sector West from Italian troops.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|