Hungarian Officer to Head Peacekeepers in Kosovo

It is a great recognition that a member of the Hungarian Defense Forces will be the commander of a NATO mission for a year, Major General Ferenc Kajári, who will be the head of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) from the autumn, told the state news agency MTI this Wednesday.

At the Hungarian Army Peace Support Training Center, the site of the KFOR command team's target preparation in Szolnok, E Hungary, Major General Kajári added that this is the first time since Hungary joined NATO in 1999 that Hungary will be the commander of this operation.

Ferenc Kajári explained that he will be in command of soldiers from 27 countries (19 NATO members and 8 partner countries) that make up KFOR. The current strength of the force is around three thousand five hundred, this the number of troops in the area of operations. Hungary has the third largest number of troops there.

The Hungarian Armed Forces have been involved in peace support operations since 1996, he continued, and the Hungarian soldiers are well prepared and perform their tasks excellently. In the past, several officers and senior officers have held important positions in various operations, he added.

In KFOR, Hungary will also provide the political adviser to the commander and the head of the legal advisory section, while several other officers and senior officers will also hold "key positions" in the KFOR staff, he said.