The Princess Royal met British servicemen and women on NATO peacekeeping duties in Kosovo during a two-day visit. The Princess is Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Logistic Corps and The Royal Corps of Signals, units of which are serving in the Balkan region.
The troops are part of the KFOR force in Kosovo, currently under United Nations administration following a bloody civil war in the late 1990s. In March 1999 NATO began a bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to force a withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo. After a peace agreement was drawn up, a NATO force of servicemen and women from different countries remained in the region to ensure that its terms were kept.
It was a return visit for the Princess, who previously travelled to Kosovo and Macedonia in 1999 at the height of military activity in the region.
Having arrived at Pristina's airport, the Princess's first visit was to the Multinational Brigade Centre in the Kosovan capital.
There the Princess visited the Combat Service Support Squadron, part of the Royal Logistics Corps. Her Royal Highness listened to a short political brief about Kosovo's history, and learned about the role of the Combat Service Support Squadron. The squadron provides logistical support to the troops, including the organisation of supplies of equipment, spare parts, food and clothing, ensuring that supplies are in the right place at the right time.
The Princess went on to tour the various sections, viewing the distribution centre, vehicle support facilities, engineering department and the personnel communications section, including the sending of an 'e-bluey'. The 'e-bluey' is a free e-mail service for servicemen and women which updates the postal 'bluey' system, allowing them to keep in touch with their loved ones at home.
In the military bar, the Princess presented two medals for long service to corporals and met serving members of CSS Squadron.
From there the Princess travelled to the primary health care centre, where she met members of the medical team. Her Royal Highness viewed a demonstration of the treatment of a gunshot wound in the treatment room, and saw soldiers undergoing rehabilitation treatment in the physiotherapy department.
In the evening Her Royal Highness attended a reception and dinner in the combined officers', warrant officers' and sergeants' mess in the Multinational Brigade Headquarters.
The following day began with a visit to Suva Reka, a town which saw intense fighting in 1999. Today it is the site of a Save the Children Kosovo unit, the Handikos Centre. The Princess Royal is President of Save the Children Fund.
The Princess was given an outline of the Save the Children programme in Kosovo, and toured the centre to meet children, staff and parents, and see the playroom, computer room and physiotherapy facility.
The Princess's final visit was to The Royal Corps of Signals in the Multinational Brigade Centre in Pristina, where she was given a brief about the role of the Signals, who provide information technology and communications for the British Army throughout the world.
The Princess toured the systems control building and the communications tower before presenting the United Nations Kosovo Campaign Medal to three of the youngest Royal Signal soliders. There was time to meet members of the squadron before leaving for the airport and the flight home.
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