On Saturday, January 19 – the seventh anniversary of the Hejce air disaster – a commemoration was held in the village in Borsod-Abaúj Zemplén County. Slovak Minister of Defence Martin Glváč and Hungarian Minister of Defence Csaba Hende were present at the event and thanked all participants of the rescue operation for their work.

Seven years ago on this day in the evening hours, an An-24 aircraft of the Slovak air force crashed into Borsó-Hill above Hejce – near the airport of Kosice, just 30 kilometers from the landing strip. Forty-two soldiers returning from the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo lost their lives in the tragedy, and only one soldier survived the disaster. Since then, the tragedy has been commemorated every year by those who lost their loved ones, the comrades, the leaders of the Slovak armed forces and the Hungarian Defence Forces, the one-time participants of the rescue operation and the locals as well as the only survivor, Martin Farkas, who was present at the event this time as well.

In his speech delivered at the commemoration, Hungary’s Minister of Defence Csaba Hende said that the 42 Slovak soldiers who had lost their lives at Hejce worked for peace together with the soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces in Kosovo. “The soldiers, who almost returned home and almost felt the embrace of their relatives, lost their lives due to the pilot’s fatal mistake”, he said.

The Minister of Defence said that these soldiers had been there on a joint mission, “and therefore they are our dead too”. The Minister also thanked the participants of the rescue operation for their work, saying special thanks to the residents of Hejce who were all ready to help those in trouble. Csaba Hende said that our security is shared, that we are fighting together for peace and security in NATO and the European Union, and that a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Slovak Defence Minister Martin Glváč recalled the tragedy, and said that the events occurring seven years ago had shocked everybody. It is important to talk about this day because people are often unaware of the dangers of soldiering. The Slovak troops saved many lives in Kosovo, but life was cruel to them, and they died on returning home from service, some kilometers away from their loved ones.

The Slovak Minister of Defence thanked the people who had participated in the rescue operation, the residents of Hejce. “It is impossible to forget what happened here”, he said, adding that his country is proud of its soldiers.

(MTI)