7 hours agoAmbassador Greicevci handed the presidential medal to “Freedom Order” to the Dutch general, former president of Thaci, had split it up
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)Kosovo's Ambassador to the Netherlands, Lirim Greicevci, has handed the presidential medal to “Freedom Order”, General Ton van Loon, the first commander of the Dutch KFOR troops in Kosovo. “Presidential Medal, “Freedom Order”, for General Ton van Loon, was divided by President Hashim Thaci and dedicated to personals who contributed [...]
The presidential medal, “Freedom Command”, for General Ton van Loon, was divided by President Hashim Thaci and dedicated to personals who have made a special contribution to Kosovo's freedom. The handover of the medal took place in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Netherlands Armed Forces, Admiral Rob Bauer, Land Forces Commander General Martin Simon, KFOR veterans and other guests. Kosovo's Defence Atasheu in the Netherlands attended the ceremony, Colonel Ahmet Ajjeti”, written among other things Greicevci in his Facebook account.
His complete scripture:
It was a great honor that, at a special ceremony at the facilities of the Military Academy of Arteriles in the Netherlands, I hand over the presidential medal “Freedom Order”, General Ton van Loon, the first commander of the Dutch KFOR troops in Kosovo. The presidential medal, “Freedom Order”, for General van Loon, was divided by President Hashim Thaci and dedicated to personals who have made a special contribution to Kosovo's freedom.
The handover of the medal took place in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Netherlands Armed Forces, Admiral Rob Bauer, Land Forces Commander General Martin Simon, KFOR veterans and other guests. Kosovo's Athansheu Defence in the Netherlands, Colonel Ahmet Ajjeti, also attended the ceremony.
On June 12, 1999, General van Loon and Dutch soldiers under his command had taken control of Rahovez. They had become witnesses to Serb macabre crimes, mass destruction and suffering of Albanian civilians, being welcomed as liberations from local populations. In the words of General van Loon, a few days after we entered Rahovec, a commander of The KLA sent me to a house full of civilians killed by Serbs. Later, Serbs had set the house on fire. During the first six months of our mission, we helped bury about 2,000 civilians killed, including children”.
General van Loon and his soldiers were the first to enable the local population in Rahovec to feel free and to begin recovering from war traumas, caring for the first public services. He and his soldiers were in yet another delicate situation, getting between Russian soldiers and the local population, which did not like the Russians in their midst.
Among other things, General van Loon had ordered the deployment of armoured military vehicles to the Rahoveci wine, after receiving information that Serbian forces would blow him up before the withdrawal from Rahoveci. He and his soldiers had also helped investigators of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia gather evidence of Serbian crimes in Rahovec.
During my speech, during the ceremony, I stressed that General van Loon and his Dutch KFOR soldiers have deserved the honor and respect of the people of Rahoveci and all of Kosovo. We will never forget the contribution of the Dutch institutions and people to one of the most difficult periods of our existence.
