Defense minister visits Serbia's peacekeepers in CAR

BELGRADE - Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic visited members of the Serbian Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces (VS) on two multinational peace operations in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Ministry of Defense said in a release on Sunday.

Gasic also met with representatives of the UN secretary general in charge of multinational operations and officials of two United Nations-mandated peacekeeping missions - the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the European Union Force RCA (EUFOR RCA).

The release says that this is the first visit of a Serbian defense minister to UN and EU peacekeeping missions in CAR, which shows that Serbia is lending its full support to international peace efforts.

The Serbian flag can be seen on MINUSCA mission uniforms worn by 72 Serbian Defense Ministry and VS members, 20 of whom are women, the ministry said.

The Serbian Contingent Commander, Colonel Milivoje Pajovic, will host a special dinner in honor of the women on the missions in CAR and the visit of the defense minister.

Serbia has contributed a four-strong medical team, with three women on it, to the EUFOR RCA mission.

They work at the UCATEX military camp in Bangui.

MINUSCA is the third-biggest of the 16 UN-mandated peacekeeping missions.

A level 2 military hospital that Serbia has contributed to the mission in CAR is Serbia's largest engagement after the mission in Lebanon, and by the number of experts and specialists the largest, according to the release.

Thirteen top doctors and 34 medical technicians are in charge of caring for nearly 5,000-strong UN staff in the CAR capital.

The hospital also has an aero...