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The Romanian troops that ensured the first rotation of the "Carpathian Pumas" Detachment within the UN Integrated Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in the Republic of Mali (MINUSMA) returned to the country, on Friday, by a special TAROM air flight, on the route Bucharest - Gao - Bucharest, accompanied by four Albanian soldiers and a Croatian citizen.
According to the Ministry of National Defence, the four Albanian servicemen are part of the EU training mission in Mali (EUTM) and the Croatian citizen is an employee of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).
Their evacuation to Romania was carried out at the request of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania and the Embassy of Croatia in Algiers.
After landing at Otopeni Airport, the Albanian servicemen were boarded by vehicles provided by the Romanian Ministry of National Defence for transport to Tirana, and the Croatian citizen will arrive in the country by air with a civilian flight.
"These steps represent proof of solidarity between the allies, in the restrictive conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide," states the Ministry of National Defence.
Upon arrival, the military were greeted by the Chief of the Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, who welcomed them and congratulated them on how they conducted their mission in the theater of operations in Mali.
From October 2019, Romania is contributing, for a period of one year, to the international peacekeeping efforts with an Air Force detachment consisting of 120 soldiers and 4 IAR-330 Puma L-RM helicopters participating in the UN Integrated Multidimensional Mission of Stabilization in the Republic of Mali (MINUSMA).
