site.btaBulgarian Military Contingent Departs for NATO Mission in Kosovo

A ceremonial send-off for a Bulgarian military contingent participating in NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) operation took place in Asenovgrad on Monday. Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov attended and delivered a formal address to the troops.

"I commend you for taking on the responsibility to represent our country in the NATO Stabilization Force mission in Kosovo. You are the second Bulgarian contingent to serve under Regional Command West. Service members from different units make up the group, and their preparation and certification showed they coordinated well," Eftimov said.

An icon of St. George the Victorious, the patron saint of soldiers, was presented to the contingent on behalf of the caretaker Minister of Defence, Atanas Zapryanov.

The newly-deployed contingent primarily consists of service members from the 4th Artillery Regiment. It also includes personnel from the 101st Alpine Regiment, the 110th Logistics Regiment of the Land Forces, and the Mobile Communication and Information System of the Joint Forces Command. The national commander leading the unit is Lieutenant Colonel Tsvetomir Deyanov from the Joint Forces Command.

The send-off ceremony concluded with a ceremonial march by the service members.

Since February 2000, Bulgarian troops have contributed to the KFOR mission, beginning with a small engineering unit. Over time, this commitment has grown, with more than 1,800 Bulgarian service members participating to date.