So far, the Luxembourg army has participated in these abroad missions

Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Luc Frieden (CSV) announced in the Chamber that the Grand Duchy could participate in a peace mission in Ukraine, « Under an international or European mandate ». The Luxembourg Army has so far participated in peace missions as part of NATO, the EU and the United Nations.

But where have the Luxembourg armed forces been working in the past 35 years? Here is a selection of peace missions with Luxembourg’s participation.

Yugoslavia

The peace missions of the Luxembourgers officially started when the United Nations called out the « United Nations Protection Force » (unforfor) in 1991. The unforfor was installed when the various ethnic communities strived for their respective independence in the former Yugoslavia and finally provoked a civil war in 1991.

The Luxembourg Army took part in this mission by integrating her peloton into a Belgian battalion and stationed in Croatia between April 1992 and 1993. The task of the Luxembourg armed forces was to monitor the ceasefire and drive the disarmament of the local militias.

In the course of the decay of Yugoslavia, NATO launched the « NATO implementation Force » (iFor) and later the « NATO Stabilization Force » (SFOR). The reason for these missions was the split off of the Bosnian Serbs of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the subsequent war after the Bosnian Serbs announced the foundation of a « Serbian Republic ».

Between 1992 and 1995, this conflict cost almost 100,000 civilians. The Luxembourg armed forces were stationed in the region between 1996 and 2000 as part of IFOR and SFOR. The aim of the missions was to prevent the conflict from being flare up again.

Kosovo

The longest peace mission of Luxembourg took place in Kosovo after the Albanian community, which was in Kosovo in the majority, demanded its independence in 1998 and rose against the Serbian government. There is a bloody civil war. In June 1999, NATO launched the « Kosovo Force » (KFOR). In August 1999, Luxembourg soldiers also arrived in Kosovo and were integrated into a Belgian unit. A specialized educational unit of the Luxembourg army was also used in Kosovo.

The Luxembourg armed forces took part in the peace mission in Kosovo for 18 years. Almost 1,200 Luxembourg soldiers were on duty there. From 1999 to 2017, Luxembourg was involved in the KFRO mission. On October 15, 2017, the 52nd contingent returns to the Grand Duchy.

Afghanistan

After the attacks on September 11 on the Twin Towers in New York, the Luxembourg Army was also present in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2021. The “International Security Assistance Force” (ISAF) and later the “Resolute Support Mission” (RSM) were launched in 2001 and 2015. As part of the ISAF, Luxembourg soldiers were sent to Afghanistan in 2003 to ensure the security of the military zone of the international airport of the capital Kabul.

Later, the Luxembourg units will be commissioned to secure the air force base in Kandahar until April 2014. In 2015, the RSM will then be convened for the training of Afghan troops and security forces. The Luxembourgers were entrusted with this task from June 2015 to May 2021 and stationed in Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in northern Afghanistan.

After the return of the Taliban in August 2021, the Luxembourg Army took part in an evacuation mission for civilians, the « Operation Red Kite ». The aim of the mission was to evacuate people with connections to the Grand Duchy and Belgium, citizens of Western countries as well as Afghan citizens with connections to the Allied armed forces or international organizations from Afghanistan.

In total, the Allied armed forces flown 1,412 people in 23 rounds of evacuation. Two Luxembourg military pilots take part in the evacuation mission.

Lebanon

From October 2006 to October 2014, the Luxembourg armed forces took part in the « United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon » (Unifil). The Unifil was formed in 1978 after the attack by the Israeli army on Lebanon. In 2006 a conflict between the Hisbollah and Israel broke out, which led to the expansion of the Unifil mission to provide the population with relief goods and to protect the refugees on their return.

The original mandate was to monitor the withdrawal of the Israeli troops from the South Libanon, contribute to the restoration of peace and security and to support the Lebanese government in restoring their authority.

Africa

The Luxembourg army was also in use at the African continent. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the army took part in the « EU Security Sector Reform Mission » (Eusec RDC) between 2006 and 2015. The aim of this mission was to ensure the safety of the population when building a defense apparatus. From 2012 to June 2015, a Luxembourg officer in retirement took over the management of the mission.

The Luxembourgers were involved in the Chad from 2008 to 2009 in the « EU Military Operation in Eastern Chad and North Eastern Central African Republic » (Eufor Tchad/RCA) and finally in the « EU Training Mission in Mali » (EUTM Mali) from 2013 to 2020. In 2020, the EU decided to prolong the mission. However, the early end came two years later in April 2022 with the worsening of the security situation.

War in Ukraine

Luxembourg is also involved in the « NATO Enhanced Forward Presence » (EFP) missions in Lithuania and Romania. Luxembourgers have been in Lithuania since 2017 and in Romania since 2023. EFP Lithuania is a reaction to the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and serves to protect the Baltic States and Poland.

After the attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the mission was extended to Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The Luxembourg armed forces are integrated into a Belgian unit and in a multinational battalion under German command in Lithuania.

In Romania, 27 soldiers are currently stationed under French command. However, part of this unit is to be ordered back to Luxembourg this year to train for a year to the new vehicles recently purchased by the army.

The task of the Luxembourg soldiers in Romania is to contribute to the defense of NATO member countries with a slight reconnaissance train at exercises and training missions. The team of the Luxembourg Army under French command is stationed in the Cincu military camp, 200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The Luxembourgers have also participated in the « EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine » (Eumam) since 2022. This was formed in November 2022 in response to the large -scale Russian offensive in Ukraine by the EU. The mission serves, among other things, to train the Ukrainian armed forces. The Luxembourgers train other European countries that participate in the mission, among others in the areas of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense. The Grand Duchy also supports the mining and medical rescue training.

Luxembourg has also been part of the « NATO Joint Task Force » since 2019. The NATO mission is made up of agricultural, air and sea forces as well as special units. The Luxembourg forces take part in the « Land » component together with Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. The army is involved in a drone department with around 40 soldiers.

With the task of providing satellite communication, the Luxembourg Army has also been involved in the « EU BattleGroup » since January 1.