EUFOR held the Distinguished Visitors Day and Closing Ceremony of exercise Quick Response 24 today. The ceremony was inspected by Commander EUFOR Major General László Sticz and EU Ambassador and EU Special Representative (EUSR) Luigi Soreca.
As part of the ceremony, guests had the opportunity to view a dynamic display by the Multinational Battalion, the Aviation Detachment and our reserve forces. The display highlighted the different scenarios tested throughout the exercise and gave the audience a snapshot of the ongoing activities over the past three weeks. During the display, the audience were able to watch EUFOR troops perform an extraction exercise of VIP’s from a challenging situation. The audience were given a demonstration of air evacuation of injured persons by helicopter following a Crowd Riot Control event. There was also a parade of the different vehicles deployed in EUFOR from the various troop contributing nations supported by a fly over by the Aviation Detachment’s air assets.
During the Closing Ceremony parade, EUSR Luigi Soreca gave an address highlighting the important work being done by EUFOR Operation Althea and its personnel. He noted the impressive performance by EUFOR troops during exercise Quick Response and he thanked them for their ongoing dedication to the mission.
During COM EUFOR Major General László Sticz address to the parade, he noted that a key value that EUFOR aims to achieve is the ability to continuously progress the mission. He noted that with this exercise, “EUFOR aimed to push the boundaries of previous achievements with exercise Quick Response 24” and progress we did. EUFOR activated a large reserve force in a relatively short period; integrated the new force into framework operations; and then tested these combined forces in high tempo scenarios that presented commanders with realistic situational dilemmas.
COM EUFOR Major General László Sticz thanked our local partners for their support, “I must thank our brothers and sisters in arms, the troops of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina” and expressed his gratitude to Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zukan Helez and the Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Gojko Knezevic. He also mentioned the vital support EUFOR received from state and entity police forces, expressing his thanks to “Ministries of the Interior in both Republica Srpska and Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina” for their kind assistance.
COM EUFOR Major General László Sticz also took the opportunity to thank our diplomatic partners for their assistance during the exercise; he highlighted both H.E. Mr. Damijan Sedar Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia and the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Ingrid Macdonald for giving EUFOR the ability to test its training.
Finally he thanked all participants for their “commitment and positive attitude throughout the exercise”. COM EUFOR noted that during his field inspections, he was impressed by the caliber of leaders and soldiers he encountered, remarking, “What I saw in the field should give us all great confidence for the future of the militaries involved”. He also noted the exceptional work carried out by his Headquarters staff in the planning and execution of such an exercise.
With the end of the closing ceremony, we bring to an end EUFOR’s annual exercise Quick Response 24.
We wish to thank all who have participated and aided in the success of the exercise.
Until next time, we leave you with EUFOR’s motto in 2024; Forward – Onward – Together.
