41st Croatian Army contingent departs for KFOR mission in Kosovo

The forces of the 41st HRVCON KFOR consist of members of the Motorized Infantry Company, the Aviation Unit, the ISR Unit, the Headquarters Unit, logistic and intelligence national support elements and a medical team. 131 members of the Armed Forces, including eight women, who will replace the 40th contingent.

On Monday, Minister of Defense Ivan Anušić ceremoniously sent off the 41st contingent of the Croatian Armed Forces (HRVCON) to the KFOR peace operation in Kosovo at the barracks of the 1st Guards Brigade in Zagreb, noting that every Croatian contingent to date, which includes a total of 1 888 soldiers, were rated as excellent. In his send-off Minister Anušić said that he had visited the 40th contingent in Kosovo a few months ago and pointed out that our army and soldiers are always in good standing, and among the best. He expressed his belief that this contingent will maintain that level of excellence.

Anušić emphasized to the soldiers that they wear the uniforms and insignia of the victorious army from the Homeland War and that he is sure that they will honorably serve the mission to which they have been assigned. In a statement to the media, he said that the situation in Kosovo and the surrounding area "is not what we would like it to be" and that it is "not satisfactory and not good."

"If the situation were good, we would not have to send armed forces in the KFOR mission. We hope that NATO and KFOR will manage to stabilize the situation, so that there is no excess and no expansion of violence," he said, adding that there were several situations that "were borderline."

"All these situations were caused by the Serbian side. For this reason, it is necessary to maintain peace and order in that area. The presence of the Croatian contingent and everyone else who is in Kosovo certainly gives us the right to think that security in Kosovo will be maintained and preserved," said Anušić.

Answering a journalist's question, he said that war is a distasteful word but that war will not happen because Croatian forces are there specifically to preserve the peace: "We are an army that is ready for deterrence, we are not preparing for any attacks or wars, but for deterrence. We have to be strong in order to deter anyone who thinks they can repeat the events of 1991, and when we talk specifically about Kosovo and frankly in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, I hope that there will be no escalation of the conflict," Anušić said.

The President of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Zoran Milanović, was also announced at the farewell ceremony, but he did not participate due to other unforeseen commitments, and was replaced by his defense advisor, Ivica Olujić.

The NATO operation KFOR was established by a resolution of the United Nations Security Council on June 10th, 1999. The primary tasks of Croatian contingent within KFOR are to prevent the renewal of hostilities, build a security environment, support international humanitarian efforts, ensure the implementation of concluded agreements and support the development of Kosovo’s security forces.

Source: HRT