Romanian gendarmes' mission in Afghanistan ends

Bucharest, Jan 12 /Agerpres/ - Fourteen Romanian gendarmes, who participated for almost 6 months in the NATO mission to advise Afghan public order and security forces, returned home on Sunday. In the nearly six months in Afghanistan, the Romanian gendarmes have successfully carried out dozens of advising and protection missions, confirming, once again, the value that the gendarmerie forces bring to peace-building missions in post-conflict areas, the Romanian Gendarmerie's Facebook page reads. As a sign of appreciation and recognition of the activity of the Romanian gendarmes, Major General Robert L. Marion, deputy commander of the CSTC-A (Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan), conferred the Romanian gendarmes the NATO non-Article 5 medal. Upon returning to the country, the Romanian gendarmes were welcomed at the Air Base 90 by the inspector general of the Romanian Gendarmerie, Colonel Bogdan Enescu, along with his deputy, Colonel Ionut-Gabriel Cimpanu, and the head of the International Relations Service, Lieutenant Colonel Dorin Luta. On this occasion, Colonel Bogdan Enescu welcomed the Romanian gendarmes. "Dear comrades, I congratulate you for the performance you had in the most difficult operation theatre, for the responsibility, professionalism and the way you represented Romania! I am glad that you returned home in good health and I assure you that your experience will be used to the fullest extent by the Gendarmerie in future missions,"the chief of the Gendarmerie transmitted to them. In the following days, the gendarmes will follow a specific program of medical evaluation and psychological recovery, then they will return to the units where they come from. They had the mission to protect the gendarmerie advisors during their travel to the various institutions of Afghan public order and security. "To participate in this mission, our colleagues have passed several tests to verify the specialized knowledge, English language skills, psychological and medical examination," reads posting. So far, the Romanian Gendarmerie has deployed 12 contingents in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Currently, the Gendarmerie is participating in nine international missions under the aegis of the EU, the UN and THE OSCE. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author/editor: Bogdan Gabaroi)