The "Lancieri di Montebello" (8 °) regiment stationed in Rome, under the command of Colonel Angelo Minelli, gave the change to the 52 ° artillery regiment "Turin", commanded by Colonel Antonio Sgobba. The ceremony took place in the presence of the commander of the Interforces Top Operational Command (IOC), general of the army corps Marco Bertolini, and the divisional general Salvatore Farina, commander of KFOR. The event was attended by the Italian Ambassador in Kosovo SE Andreas Ferrarese, and numerous religious, military and civil authorities. During the operation, the artillerymen from Vercelli contributed to maintaining a safe environment in their area of responsibility, guaranteeing, among other things, the security of the religious site of the Visoki Decani monastery, a UNESCO heritage site by 2004.
Of great importance was also the competition provided to ensure the regularity of the electoral process, in the various rounds held in Kosovo in January, March and, recently, for the political consultations of the last 8 June. In his speech, General Bertolini highlighted how "the work carried out by the Italian military for the stability and security of Kosovo is important for our country even before Europe, where tensions in the Balkan area have their immediate repercussions . This is why the military instrument serves foreign policy ".
The KFOR commander wanted to underline "the qualified contribution to security offered by the Multinational Battle Group West precisely on the occasion of the recent political elections during which the Italian and foreign military under the command of Colonel Sgobba worked side by side with the Kosovo Police, the EULEX agents, and representatives and operators of the OSCE, the European Union and other international organizations and local authorities of Kosovo for the perfect success of this important and demanding operation ".
The 52 regiment "Turin" and the staff of the 1 transmissions regiment of Milan return to their homeland after having promoted several CIMIC initiatives in the six months of their mandate to improve the population's uneasy conditions and offer it new opportunities for the future , with particular attention to the younger generations. The banner of the successor regiment "Lancieri di Montebello" (8 °), awarded a silver medal for Military Valor, crossed national borders for the first time after 155 years of history.
Source: KFOR
