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Change of head at KFOR



(BRUSSELS2) German Lieutenant-General Markus Bentler took up his post on 8 September as head of the NATO detachment in Kosovo (KFOR). He replaces the Italian Giuseppe Gay in this position. In particular, he will have to manage the decline in numbers in the former Serbian province, which has become independent.

After classes at the 41st Fighter Battalion in Göttigen, he studied at the Bundeswehr University, where he was one of the first cadets (the university having been created in 1973). His first function in a staff position led him to the mechanized infantry division of Kassel (as G2) then to the 6th armored brigade (as G3, from 1987 to 1989). He was Defense Attaché at the German Embassy in Washington (United States) from 1989 to 1992. On his return, he took command of the 23rd Mountain Infantry Brigade in Bad Reichenhall and commanded the 6th German Contingent and the South-East Multinational Brigade of Kfor from December 2002. He then headed the officers' school in Dresden until 2006, then headed the 10th Panzer Division in Sigmaringen. He was born on May 16, 1953 and was appointed Lieutenant General effective September 1, 2009.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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