26 Jan. 2006

NATO honours Slovak soldiers News 25/01/2006 - NATO The Secretary General Of NATO to attend the memorial ceremony for Slovak KFOR soldiers Opinions Statement by the Secretary General on the death of Slovak soldiers NATO's Secretary-General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the Deputy Chairman of NATO's Military Committee, LtGen Baptiste have been present in Presov, Slovakia on 26 th January 2006 at the Final Memorial Service of the Slovak Military Personnel who tragically died on the plane crash on 19 th January 2006 on their returnflight home after having served for NATO in KFOR, Kosovo Commemorating the Slovak soldiers who died tragically on 19 January, staff at NATO HQ in Brussels observed a minute of silence on 26 January, as a memorial service was held in the country. The NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, travelled to Bratislava to attend the ceremonies and to express his condolences and sympathy to the families of the soldiers and to the people of Slovakia.   Profound condolences The soldiers died in a tragic plane crash while returning home after serving in the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo, KFOR. “Their families and their country should be justifiably proud of their service, and I express to them, on behalf of the entire Alliance , our profound condolences, ” said the Secretary General in a statement issued the day after the accident. Slovakia , member of NATO since 2004, is contributing over 130 soldiers to NATO’s missions and operations.