On June 5 Brig.-Gen. Ferenc Korom, the Chief of Staff of ISAF Regional Command North (RC-N) paid a visit to Baghlan Province, where he met the provincial director of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS).

The fact of the meeting in itself perhaps would not be so important, as the RC-N chief of staff has meeting like this every week. The venue, however, was out of the ordinary, since the meeting took place in Camp Pannonia, where no Hungarian soldiers have been since the withdrawal of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT).

Brig.-Gen. Korom was joined on his visit by Lt.-Col. Balázs Szloszjár, military advisor and by Sedghi Behnam, interpreter, who had served together with the PRT in 2009.

It was interesting to see again the flooding River Baghlan, the familiar roads, houses and people. It was touching to see again the camp which had accommodated Hungarian troops. The disciplined soldiers of the NDS on duty at the entry point used mirrors to check the combat vehicles. The NDS leaders were at the parking lot to receive Brig.-Gen. Korom and the commander of the German battle group (PU OP-N) in his entourage. The discussion took place inside the PRT house, where both sides recalled how many times the Hungarians and the Afghans were sitting there together to conduct negotiations.

The director of the NDS thanked the Hungarians for having contributed to improving the conditions for the task execution by the Afghan security forces through handing over the camp. He said thanks on behalf of the director-general of the NDS too, and pointed out that Baghlan would forever be proud of the achievements of the HUN PRT, the schools, clinics, roads and dams built in 14 districts.

Brig.-Gen. Ferenc Korom said thanks for the opportunity to visit the camp, stressing that Hungary has not left Baghlan Province on its own after the withdrawal of the PRT. He pointed out that Hungarian soldiers are currently operating in other areas of Afghanistan, and that it is mainly those serving with the RC-N that are monitoring the events in Baghlan Province, since this province is one of the main direction of efforts for the commander of the region.

At the request of the director, he promised to see that the fuel supply is delivered, which is indispensable for the operation of the camp.

After the negotiation, the director showed the visitors round the camp. The camp is in good condition, the Hungarian flags are still flying at some places and the rooms are furnished, but the facilities left behind by the PRT are only partly used, due to the shortage of fuel needed to generate power.

In what followed, Brig.-Gen. Korom inspected the progress of withdrawal at Puze-e-Eshnan, the camp of the German battle group, then bade farewell to the familiar landscape from the air on his return to Mazar-e Sharif.

(Lt.-Col. B. Sz.)