A ceremonial send-off for a Bulgarian military contingent participating in the NATO KFOR mission took place today in Asenovgrad. Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov attended and gave an official speech to the troops.

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

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

The newly deployed contingent consists primarily of service members from the 4th Artillery Regiment. It also includes personnel from the 101st Alpine Regiment, the 110th Ground Forces Logistics Regiment and the Joint Forces Command's Mobile Communications and Information System. The national commander leading the unit is Lt. Col. Tsvetomir Dejanov from the Joint Forces Command.

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

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