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Peacekeeping missions

Peacekeeping Missions of the Luxembourg Army

A special postage stamp Peacekeeping Missions of the Luxembourg Army was released in September 2007. Advantage Communication in Howald designed this special postage stamp, which was printed by the Stamp printer of Belgium in Malines.
Since 1992 contingents from the Luxembourg army have regularly participated in peacekeeping missions.

FORPRONU

FORPRONU (United Nations Protection Forces in former Yugoslavia) had a mandate to ensure that the zones protected by the United Nations in Croatia remain demilitarized. In June 1992, the conflict having intensified and overrun Bosnia-Herzegovina, the mandate of FORPRONU was extended and its troops reinforced. In September 1992, its mandate was one again extended so that it could support the efforts of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees which was supplying humanitarian aid to all of Bosnia Herzegovina. FORPRONU also oversaw the implementation of different cease-fire agreements signed by the parties in conflict. In December 1992, FORPRONU was deployed in the former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia. On 31 March 1995, the Security Council decided to restructure FORPRONU and replace it with three distinct but connected peacekeeping operations.

IFOR

IFOR (Implementation Force) was deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina in December 1995, with a one year mandate, by virtue of Resolution 1031 of the UN Security Council, to supervise the implementation of military aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords, an accord which had put an end to the war in Bosnia. The principal task of IFOR was to guarantee the end of hostilities and to separate the forces of the Bosnia Herzegovina federation, on one hand, from those of the Srpska Republic. SFOR took over from IFOR on 21 December 1996.

SFOR

SFOR (Stabilization Force) operated under the code name, Operation Joint Guard (21 December 1996 - 19 June 1998) and Operation Joint Force (20 June 1998 - 2 December 2004). The member countries of NATO principally supplied its troops. The troops were reduced to 12,000 men by the end of 2002 and to 7,000 by the end of 2004. Eufor (European Union Force) took over from SFOR on 21 December 2004.

KFOR

The failure of the Rambouillet negotiations regarding the conflict between Kosovo Albanians and Belgrade authorities led, in March 1999, to a NATO military intervention. On 9 June 1999, NATO and the Yugoslavian government signed a military-technical accord signaling the start of Serbian troop withdrawal from the province. On 10 June, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 ratifying the accord and calling, among other things, for deployment of an international security presence including substantial participation from NATO. The soldiers of the KFOR (Kosovo Force) were deployed in the region on 12 June 1999 at the same time as a UN mission.

ISAF

In August 2003, NATO took command of the mission of the ISAF (International Security and Assistance Force) with the authority of the United Nations. At first responsible for assuring security in and around Kabul, the ISAF has slowly extended its role in the Afghanistan region at the request of Afghani authorities. Since 5 October 2006, it has been charged with assuring the security and stability in every region of the country. About 31,000 soldiers from 26 allied countries and 11 partner countries are presently under the command of this force.

Postage stamp in detail

Stamp design: Advantage Communication
Print: Imprimerie du Timbre La Poste in Malines (Belgium)
Price of the postage stamp: 0,70 Euro
Dimensions: 29,75 x 40,15 mm
10 stamps per sheet with decorated borders