29.11.2014.

Seeing off the SAF contingent to the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon

With the attendance of Head of the General Staff of Serbia General Ljubisa Dikovic, Army Commander Lieutenant General Aleksandar Zivkovic, Zagrebacko-Ljubljanski metropolitan and military episcope Porfirije, representatives of SAF units and commands, Ministry of Interior, religious communities, local self-governments, family members and numerous friends, today, from the barracks “National Hero Stevica Jovanovic” in Pancevo, members of the Infantry Command of the First Army Brigade and the platoon for protection of forces from the Fifth Battalion of the Military Police were seen off to the multinational operation of the United Nations – UNIFIL in Lebanon.

Stressing that the Armed Forces of Serbia, by following the strategic choice of the state to contribute to peace and security in the region and the world, constantly increases the number of its members in multinational operations of UN and EU, Head of the General Staff of Serbia General Ljubisa Dikovic said:

- Deployment in multinational operations has manifold importance for the Armed Forces of Serbia. We train and equip our units in

accordance with highest world standards; we gain new experience and knowledge while working in an international environment and we show the readiness to contribute with our actions to achieving and maintaining peace and security. Today, we see off an infantry company to UN mission in Lebanon which will conduct tasks as an independent unit, seven staff officers for responsible duties at the Spanish Battalion Command at the Command of the Sector East and a platoon for protection of forces, which will conduct tasks within the Italian contingent at the Sector West. By referring the platoon for protection of forces, our participation in the mission is enhanced by 33 SAF members – General Dikovic said.

Addressing members of the unit that will soon replace their colleagues in the UNIFIL multinational operation in Lebanon, General Ljubisa Dikovic stressed that the work of their predecessors was assessed by higher staff in the mission with highest grades and that this will be the case with future contingents of the Armed Forces of Serbia.

- Considering the previous experiences from this and other missions and your readiness to perform your upcoming tasks, I am assured that you will conduct your duty honorably, fairly and responsibly, with maximum engagement, the way worthy of a Serbian soldier and that you will worthily represent the Armed Forces of Serbia and the Republic of Serbia – general Dikovic said.

At the end of the ceremonial seeing off of SAF members to UNIFIL mission, Head of the General Staff if Serbia General Ljubisa Dikovic handed flags of the Republic of Serbia to commanders of units that will replace SAF units in Lebanon in the course of the third rotation.

The Armed Forces of Serbia has successfully completed the participation in UN missions in Timor, Burundi, Chad and the Central African Republic, while the deployment is still active in 7 UN missions and three EU missions. In UN mission in Lebanon, SAF members have been deployed since December 2010, when six staff officers were deployed within the Spanish contingent. Members of the Infantry Company of the First Army Brigade are referred in the course of the third rotation.