AUCON 17/KFOR takes over responsibility in Kosovo south

Due to the forthcoming political decisions over the future of the Kosovo, this event is anything but routine. Today Lt. Col. Obstlt Volkmar Ertl, his staff and soldiers of the AUCON 17/KFOR Contingent took over responsibility for the coming months within Kosovo's south in a solemn ceremony.

This transfer of authority was symbolically carried out by the handover of the battalion banner through the commander of the Multi-National Task Force South, Turkish General Ugur Tarcin. In the evening, Brig. Gen. Reinhard Schöberl handed over the official bill of assignment to Colonel Ertl, which is the legal foundation of the command in accordance with Austrian law.

The relevance of the coming months for the political and safety advancement of Kosovo, and for the complete KFOR contingent, underlined the commander of the 7th Infantry Brigade BG Günter Polajnar through his personal journey, especially to this event and his address to the contingent.

It was specially stressed that the upcoming elections, including a preceding election campaign, the report of the troika to the UN Secretary-General and a number of politically important legal trials against presumed disturbers of the peace process, are taking place through this time.

For AUCON 17/ KFOR, this means to keep up the continuity in leading operational tasks on the basis of a perfect cooperation and mutual support for each other. This especially includes the municipalities, KPS and KPC, as well as international organizations and NGOs.