Hungarian soldier commits suicide in Kosovo

A soldier from the Hungarian contingent of the KFOR (NATO-led peacekeeping force) has died. According to available information, he ended his own life.

“A soldier from the Hungarian contingent of the KFOR (NATO-led peacekeeping force) wounded himself with his service weapon while off duty, and is believed to have attempted suicide,” Magyar Nemzet reports, based on the information from the Ministry of Defence.

The soldier could not be helped by the doctors who arrived at the Kosovo camp and died during transport to hospital. The incident happened on 4 July and the investigation is ongoing. The relatives were immediately informed by the Hungarian Defence Forces.

KFOR’s 1999 mission started with around 50,000 troops, Magyar Nemzet writes. However, that number has now been reduced to less than 4,000. 27 countries are involved in this peacekeeping operation, but three countries provide the largest number of troops. These are Italy (715), the United States (561) and Hungary (469). Accordingly, these three countries dominate the leadership of KFOR. KFOR generally performs observer and support tasks. In peacetime, they mainly patrol and monitor the security situation.