Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said Hungary’s troops have proved their skills and that they can be counted on in every task they perform. The defense minister made the remark after the military aircraft carrying 12 Hungarian soldiers injured in violent clashes in Kosovo landed in Budapest.
“We have altogether 27 troops who have been injured,” Minister Szalay-Bobrovniczky told journalists at Liszt Ferenc International Airport after conversing with those on board the plane. He said the troops had told him that “the incident lasted long and was very heavy”. “The Hungarian battalion serving under an international Italian-US command was deployed at the site where they faced the protesters,” the minister said. The troops serving in a KFOR mission were deployed to disperse the rioters in front of the town hall in Zvečan on Monday afternoon. After talking with the Hungarian troops who returned home with the plane, the defense minister said that those seriously injured were in a stable condition. After meeting their family members, all 19 troops will be taken to the Honvéd military hospital, he said. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Tuesday morning that 15 Hungarian soldiers were treated in hospital. A Hungarian army aircraft was dispatched to the region to take those injured home on Monday evening.