In July 2016, a group of LUISS students spent a week with with the troops stationed in Kosovo at the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR).
In collaboration with the Ministry of Defense, the project allowed students to have direct contact with the local culture of the communities residing in the area through a series of meetings and activities.
Following a preliminary training period, the students were send to the Multinational Battle Group West, an international unit led by Italian troops under the command of Colonel Giovanni Giagheddu in the west of Kosovo.
During their stay the students visited the New Bridge in Mitrovica, symbol of ethnic division between the Albanian and Serbian communities, managed by soldiers from Multinational Specialized Unit, the Orthodox Monastary of Decane and protected by the Italian contingent of the Multinational Battle Group West. In the KFOR headquarters in Pristina, the students met the mission commander, General Guglielmo Luigi Miglietta, who gave a lecture on the situation in the region and tasks assigned to KFOR by the United Nations Security Council.
The collaboration between LUISS and the Ministry of Defense was established to enrich students’ university careers with direct and concrete understanding of the Italian Military activities.
The KFOR mission has been in Kosovo since 1999 and has contributed to peacekeeping and stability in the region, the civil growth process, and the development of local institutions. Today the multinational NATO mission involves 5,000 soldiers from 31 countries.
