Polish Soldiers Will Stay In Kosovo For A Longer Period Of Time. Request Submitted To The President.

The Council of Ministers submitted request to the Polish President, the purpose of which is to prolong the period of activity of the Polish Military Contingents, acting as a part of the International Forces in Kosovo and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Another request of this type is related to prolonged presence of the Polish Military Contingent in the military advisory mission, carried out by the European Union in the Central African Republic. Both requests have been submitted by the Polish Minister of Defence.

According to the information published by the PM’s office, the operational activities undertaken by the former contingent are to be prolonged, for the period between 1st January and 30th June 2016. The presidential resolution that is in force, states that the Polish soldiers are going to remain within the aforementioned territories until the end of 2015. Quantity of the soldiers shall remain unchanged – still contained in a number of 300 troops and employees of the military.

The task of the contingent, constituting a part of the Multinational Battle Group East, acting under the jurisdiction of the International Forces Command in Kosovo and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, is to supervise the enforcement of the peace memorandum and supervising the participants of the Kosovo conflict within the scope of following the assumptions of the peace arrangements. Secondly, the forces support the European Union Forces, the task of which is to maintain security and peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The submitted document stresses the fact that monitoring the enforcement of the memorandums and international treaties is a priority task for the contingent, also realized through demonstration of military presence of the multinational forces in Kosovo, and through patrolling the area of responsibility of the Multinational Battle Group – East, in order to identify and neutralize the potential threats.

The Polish Contingent is also going to support the Kosovo police and the European Union deployment, within the scope of monitoring the rule of law in the area.

Operations are going to be financed by the Polish Ministry of Defence. Starting from January, until the end of June 2016, amount of PLN 20,666 thousands is to be allocated for that purpose, with 41,332 thousand zlotys of expenditure expected until the end of the year.

Polish Contingent is tasked with an advisory mission of the European Union in the Central African Republic is to operate between 1st January until 17th July 2016. Two soldiers are going to be involved in the related activities. Still, the aforementioned deployment is going to act under the command of the EUMAM RCA initiative. Poles will be involved in provision of military advice for the armed forces of the Central African Republic.

Operations of the contingent shall be financed by the Ministry of Defence, with the use of its own budget. The allocated amount is contained in a sum of ca. PLN 472 thousand.

Currently, within the scope of the Polish Military Contingent, constituting a part of the International Forces in Kosovo and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, soldiers of the 15th “Zawisza Czarny” Mechanized Brigade are involved in the operational activities undertaken within that region.