Serbian soldiers join UNIFIL Italian contingent Thursday

BELGRADE - Thirty-three members of the Serbian Armed Forces departed for Lebanon on Thursday to join the Italian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission, the Italian Embassy in Belgrade released in a statement.

Major General Marco Bertolini, commander of the Italian Joint Operations Headquarters and head of Italy's peacekeeping operations, and Italian Ambassador to Serbia Giuseppe Manzo, saw off the Serbian unit on Thursday that departed from Batajnica Airport.

Thirty-three Serbian soldiers, who specialize in protection, will operate under the auspices of the Italian command of Sector West of the United Nations in Lebanon on the basis of a memorandum of understanding, which was signed in Rome on Wednesday by Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti and Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, during the meeting of the two countries' Prime Ministers Matteo Renzi and Aleksandar Vucic.

The Serbian soldiers' participation in the Italian contingent was envisaged by an agreement on cooperation between Italy and Serbia in the field of defense, which was also confirmed in recent weeks with a visit to Belgrade by Chief of Defence of Italy Admiral Binelli Mantelli and Secretary General of Defence and National Armaments Director Enzo Stefanini.

During his visit to Belgrade, Major General Bertolini visited the General Staff Headquarters, reads the statement by the Italian Embassy.