Balkan female soldiers take greater role in peacekeeping missions

Balkan female soldiers take greater role in peacekeeping missions

Women also obtain greater responsibilities in missions abroad.

Macedonian soldiers participate in a training exercise for a peacekeeping mission abroad. [Army of the Republic of Macedonia]

With increasing frequency, Balkan militaries are assigning female soldiers and support personnel to peacekeeping missions where they greatly contribute to the missions' success, officials said.

The Macedonian military announced a woman will lead its peacekeeping contingent in the ALTEA mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Officials said the military is placing great emphasis on gender equality, and is now providing greater opportunities for women to be deployed in peacekeeping missions.

The military is fully applying NATO standards for women in peacekeeping missions, said Macedonia military spokesperson Mirce Gjorgjoski.

"The complete command responsibility is given to a female major in ALTEA, and our medical team there is responsible for full medical support of the soldiers at Camp Butmir in Sarajevo where the EUFOR forces are stationed," Gjorgjoski told SETimes.

Serbian soldiers train at the Sombor barracks. [AFP]

Gjorgoski said 141 out of more than the 3,200 Macedonian soldiers that have served in peacekeeping missions since 2002 are women, and that number is expected to increase as they assume greater responsibilities serving abroad.

"In Afghanistan, women perform high-risk tasks as well as men. They continually receive high marks and commendations," Gjorgoski said.

Including more women in peacekeeping missions has become a trend in the Balkans, said Metodi Hadzi Janev, a professor at the Military Academy in Skopje...