SPANISH PRESENCE IN KOSOVO ENDS WITH THE RETURN OF THE FINAL SERVICE PERSONNEL DEPLOYED IN THE REGION.

The aircraft returning with the final Spanish service personnel deployed in Kosovo landed on Saturday, 19th September, at 12:52 pm on the Getafe Air Base, where they were received by the ministress of Defence, Ms. Carme Chacón and the Chief of the Army Staff, Army General Coll.
Travelling aboard the Air Force T-17 aircraft were 88 forces, at the command of Colonel Bláquez, commander of the military force that had been in charge of materiel collection labours –Redeployment Support Unit (KSPUAR)- and that had handed over two and a half months ago. 
The welcome ceremony was also attended by former minister Mr. Eduardo Serra, on the invitation of the current ministress of Defence, since it was during his term when the international United Nations mission in the Balkans began; in addition to this were also around thirty relatives and friends. 
During the ceremony, the colonel presented the ministress the last Spanish flag to fly on Base "España", in Istok. Its destination will be the new Army Museum in Toledo, where it will be displayed “as an expression of gratitude from all Spanish people for the exemplary work” of their soldiers, indicated Ms. Chacón.

The ministress thanked the over 22,000 Spanish service persons who have been in Kosovo for the labour that they have undertaken and which has allowed, in the period of a decade, the recuperation of a region that had been devastated by a war that had produced over 5,000 deaths, a million refugees and displaced persons, and which left 300,000 people homeless. “You have been able to give the civilian population a secure environment and today Kosovo is a re-constructed territory,” she added. 
The final Spanish force has left behind a very different environment from the one the ministress encountered when she travelled to the Balkans 15 years ago as an Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Observer or the one faced by the members of the first deployment on 19th July 1999, made up principally by units from the Legion Brigade and the Pyrenees Logistic Support Command. 
The contribution by all the units posted in the region has allowed for bringing the Kosovans “stability and peace”, and exchanging “hatred for peaceful co-existence; devastation for rooftops, roads, schools and hospitals; and where there was fear, there is much room for hope”.
Lastly, the ministress wanted to remember the nine Spanish service persons who lost their lives while fulfilling their duty and in whose honour a monolith was constructed on the Istok base, a monument that the municipal authorities are going to keep at its present location as “another piece of evidence of the feeling and magnificent memory” that the population keeps with themselves of the Spanish troops, who have been “capable of interweaving a fraternal relationship” with the civilians in their area of influence.
 

Spanish troops that were integrated in the NATO led security mission in Kosovo (KFOR), did so within the Framework of Multinational Brigade West, based in Pec, in an operation called "Sierra Kilo".
Colonel Blázquez reminded in his address that the Spanish area of responsibility “has been the only one in all of Kosovo where during these ten years there has never been a problem of lack of security nor has there been any aggression against the civilian population, institutions or worship centres”. 
This fact, along with the humanitarian aid and healthcare assistance labours undertaken to date, has permitted the name of Spain and its flag’s colours to be “indelibly burnt into the memories and hearts of the population of Istok, completely regardless of race, social condition or beliefs”. 
In this sense, former minister Serra wished to congratulate the Spanish army for having demonstrated during this mission to be “the best”, not only at the professional but also at the human level. 
Before falling out and allowing the service persons to melt into the embraces of their families, ministress Chacón wished to point out that “with missions like the one ending today, the Armed Forces strengthens its already outstanding reputation”.