Newly Deployed KFOR Contingent Prepared by Air Force

The rotation of the Hungarian contingent in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo has begun. After the hand-over, the almost 280 new personnel will serve from April to September, reports Honvédelem.hu.

The stability of the Western Balkans is a priority for the Hungarian government, which is why Hungary has been participating in NATO’s largest land mission, the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (Kosovo Force, KFOR), from the very beginning and is now one of the largest contributing nations.

The Hungarian Defense Forces have also taken on several senior positions in the operation: from October 2021, Major General Ferenc Kajári was the mission commander for one year, and since October 2023, the Hungarian Defense Forces have given the deputy operational chief of KFOR.

The newly deployed contingent is the first to be prepared by the Air Force.

Nearly 70 percent of the new personnel are from the Győr, Szolnok, and Kecskemét bases. During the several months of preparation prior to the mission, the personnel learned and practiced basic peacekeeping tasks, including the operation of checkpoints and observation posts, under the organization and at the base of the 205th Air Defense Missile Regiment of Tibor Dánielfy.

The main task of the Hungarian contingent, in addition to carrying out crowd management tasks, is to provide so-called “Firephobia-training.”

As an indication of the increased involvement of the air force, from March onwards, an Airbus H145M helicopter of the Hungarian Defense Forces will be part of the special helicopter sub-unit for air support tasks in support of the mission’s air operations, and a more advanced, longer-range Skylark unmanned reconnaissance aircraft will also be deployed to Kosovo.

All of the capabilities offered to the mission will further enhance the KFOR mission’s ability to carry out its tasks. It will also help Hungarian soldiers to use the newly acquired equipment and systems in a real operational environment.

Via Honvédelem.hu, Featured photo via Facebook/Szalay-Bobrovniczky Kristóf