A ceremony will be held today at 11:00 a.m. in Asenovgrad's "Akademik Nikolay Haitov" square to mark the departure of a Bulgarian military contingent for a mission with the NATO Stabilization Force in Kosovo (KFOR), reports BNR. The event will be attended by the Chief of Defense, Admiral Emil Eftimov.

The contingent is composed of servicemen from various units, including the 4th Artillery Regiment, the 101st Alpine Regiment, and the 110th Logistics Regiment of the Ground Forces, as well as personnel from the Mobile Communication and Information System of the Joint Forces Command. Their mission will involve security assistance, patrolling, and surveillance in the designated area of responsibility.

Lt. Col. Tsvetomir Deyanov from the Joint Forces Command will lead the contingent as the national commander. Major Milen Zlatev, also from the 4th Artillery Regiment, will serve as the commander of the national support element and assistant national commander, while Captain Kaloyan Dimitrov will command the maneuver company.

Bulgaria's involvement in the NATO Stabilization Force in Kosovo began in February 2000. Since then, the mission's scope and the size of the contingents have evolved, with over 1,800 Bulgarian military personnel having participated to date. Currently, more than 200 Bulgarian military personnel are involved in the operation. This includes staff officers and a national support element at the operation's headquarters in Pristina, a maneuver company with a communication and information node in the Regional Command "West" in Peja, and a mechanized company within the 2nd multinational battalion of the operational reserve in Peja.