A Ceremony was held today in the “Mihailo Apostolski” barracks in Ohrid on the occasion of the return of the last contingent of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia from the ISAF peace mission in Afghanistan.

Expressing satisfaction that all ARM members return home alive and well, the Chief of General Staff of the ARM, Lieutenant General Miroslav Stojanovski mentioned that the soldiers in Afghanistan attained new experiences which are of priceless value for the preparation of future contingents.

- Once more in a real environment, in an international surrounding and a very high risk mission, the ARM members showed that they are competitive in skills, knowledge and professionalism. Once again in the best possible manner they affirmed not only the ARM and everything that means stepping through the reform processes, but also as ambassadors of our fatherland they affirmed the Republic of Macedonia in the international community, noted Lieutenant General Stojanovski.

He expressed expectation that the same, and even better results will be accomplished by the ARM peacekeepers who are currently situated not only in Afghanistan, but in other places where the Republic of Macedonia contributes for improving the basic security.

The Commander of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Colonel Metodija Velichkovski, speaking in military language, reminded that each military task has been successfully completed if in the prescribed time the people and materiel return from where they had gone.

- What makes us proud today is that after the analysis on the completed task and what lifts our confidence is that our soldiers returned with more than just praise for the successfully completed mission. I believe that we will apply this in the forthcoming period and we will continue to achieve similar or bigger successes, noted colonel Velichkovski.

In the seventh rotation of the ISAF peace mission, in the period from July 2009 to January this year, the ARM participated with a Mechanized Infantry Company from the composition of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade. In that period 149 “Leopards” together with the most senior national representative and three staff officers were deployed in the main ISAF Command in Kabul. The last six months the ARM members carried out their tasks in the framework of the contingent of the Army of the United Kingdom, where their main task was security to the main command of ISAF forces in Kabul. Apart from this, ARM peacekeepers in Kabul also carried out other complex tasks such as patrolling and security to the military base and facilities of vital meaning for the life of the population in Afghanistan, combat security of communications and fields and other tasks depending on the requirements of the mission.

For the smooth and professional carrying out of the tasks, as well as for the accomplished compatibility and interoperability with NATO forces in the ISAF mission, the ARM members received the highest marks from the ISAF Command and from the higher command structures of the Alliance.