News

New Slovenian Armed Forces contingent assumes tasks in Kosovo

On Monday, 30 August, a ceremony took place at the military base Villagio Italia near Peć in Kosovo marking the transfer of duties between the 21st and the 22nd contingents of the Slovenian Armed Forces which participate in the Joint Enterprise Operation in Kosovo.
On this occasion, the commander of the 21st contingent, Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Anželj transferred duties of Commander of the Slovenian Contingent and Deputy Commander, Multinational Battle Group – West (MNBG-W) to the commander of the 22nd contingent, Lieutenant Colonel Boris Rutar.
In his address, Lieutenant Colonel Anželj expressed appreciation to the members of the 21st contingent for their successfully accomplished tasks which had been noticed by KFOR leaders, local authorities, the population as well as in Slovenia.
Commander of the 22nd contingent, Lieutenant Colonel Rutar, on the other hand, stressed that members of the new contingent will continue to successfully perform tasks within their area of responsibility.
The transfer of duty was also attended by Commander, MNBG-W, Colonel David di Bartolo, who at the end of the ceremony thanked SAF members for their good international cooperation.
The 22nd contingent consists of 330 members from different SAF units, including 13 members of the voluntary contracted reserve. The tasks of the contingent remain unchanged and include the maintaining of a secure and stable environment, the creation of conditions for the transfer of responsibility to civilian authorities, performing control on communication and check points, protecting the buildings of special importance and implementing civil-military cooperation projects.
The main part of the contingent consists of two manoeuvre companies with a logistic element, while the rest of the contingent includes four Liaison and Monitoring Teams working in the municipalities of Klina, Istok, Vučitrn and Leposavič, a Military Police Platoon, National Support Element, group for civil-military cooperation and a National Intelligence Cell. Some SAF members perform their duties at multinational KFOR Command in Priština and at the Multinational Battle Group-West Command in Peć.