Heroic stand

Tuesday afternoon, an Airbus A319 aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces converted for air ambulance operations landed on Liszt Ferenc International Airport, with Hungarian soldiers aboard who had been injured in the crowd riot control tasks ordered at Zvecan, North Kosovo. The aircraft – which also carried Major General Ferenc Kajári, Deputy Chief of the HDF General Staff on board, who was travelling together with the injured soldiers and the doctors, anesthesiologist and medics tending them – was received by Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky. “The Hungarian maneuver company was deployed in a multinational force under Italian–American command. We have altogether 27 injured, 12 of whom have been transported home aboard the aircraft. The incident lasted for a long time and was extraordinarily violent. Despite their injuries, the Hungarian soldiers involved in it have stood their ground bravely, and several of them – who were able to go back – returned to the maneuver company to continue executing the task”, said the Minister of Defence.

(Photos by László Kertész)

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky added that Hungary considers the stability of the Western Balkans to be very important, and our country is present in the region in the diplomatic, economic and military sense of the term as well. The minister – who thanked the Hungarian soldiers for their bravery and aptitude – underscored that Major General Ferenc Kajári had personally assured himself of the task execution of the Hungarian peacekeepers serving in Kosovo, the medical care of the injured ones and their safe transportation home. “After they briefly meet their families, we are going to transport the ones who are now returning home to the Military Hospital in the shortest possible time, where they will receive proper medical treatment”, said the minister.

(Photos by Szebáld Szakál and Tünde Rácz)