Mayor of Szczecin Mr Piotr Krzystek and Commander of Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE) Lieutenant General Zdzisław Goral, two mentors of the upcoming MNC NE 10th Anniversary, met in a joint news conference with media representatives to announce the main idea and programme of the celebrations. The event took place on 26 August 2009 in Baltic Barracks in Szczecin, where Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast is seated.
For the last 10 years Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast has become an integral part of Szczecin. Both the City inhabitants and the Headquarters’ soldiers and their families have established and maintained friendly relations. The same applies to the authorities of the City and the Corps, which is visible during numerous festivities of municipal and national character as well as the Corps-led events. An important element of that fruitful cooperation is going to be the upcoming MNC NE 10th Anniversary, organised as a joint undertaking of the City and the Corps.
Joint News Conference
Organising a joint news conference was a means to inform the public about the event and invite all inhabitants of Szczecin, the Corps’ enthusiasts and anybody interested for the MNC NE 10th Anniversary Celebrations.
The HQ MNC NE Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Wojciech Wiśniewski welcomed all media representatives and presented main rules for the meeting. Afterwards, Mayor of Szczecin Mr Piotr Krzystek and MNC NE Commander Lieutenant General Zdzisław Goral addressed gathered journalists. The first statement was delivered by Mr Piotr Krzystek. "The Corps is a pride of this City", he said adding that Szczecin was not chosen to become the seat of this Headquarters by accident. He mentioned among other things an excellent geopolitical location of the City – close to the Baltic Sea and capitals of three countries that founded this Corps (Denmark, Germany and Poland). The Mayor of Szczecin admitted that along with creating Multinational Corps Northeast, the prestige of the City has grown. Szczecin is now known on the military map of the world.
Mr Krzystek underlined the fact that the Corps has become an integral part of Szczecin. He talked about mutual close cooperation on different levels: "the Corps’ soldiers have always been with us". As he said, during their service in Szczecin they get involved not only in the military sphere of life. The best example has been Lieuteant Colonel Hans Teglers, a former HQ MNC NE member, who was awarded the title of Honorary Ambassador of Szczecin in recognition for his social and cultural activity.
At the end, the Mayor of Szczecin expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for being together with us and that we could coexist very well".
After the statement delivered by Mr Krzystek, it was the MNC NE Commander’s turn to address the journalists. Since the preceding speaker talked much about friendly relations between the City and the Corps, the Commander focused more on presenting the Corps as such. "It is a unique military formation", General Goral said explaining it is the only formation of that kind created in the country of a former Eastern Bloc. "Was is worth it?" – asked the Commander rhetorically and answered immediately "Of course!". To prove that General Goral talked about reasons for establishing the Corps in Szczecin and hopes related with it.
The MNC NE Commander talked about growing multinational character of the Corps as well, underlining the fact that the original three-nation team was reinforced by eight more countries. "It is about exchanging not only military experiences but also cultural ones", he developed on the importance of that multinational environment. General Goral also presented the Corps’ tasks and the mission in Afghanistan, accomplished by HQ MNC NE soldiers in 2007.
An important part of the Commander’s speech was presenting the programme of the MNC NE 10th Anniversary Celebrations taking place on 19 and 20 September at Wały Chrobrego in Szczecin. He put an emphasis on the fact that it is going to be an open event, with lots of attractions for the small and the big ones. In his final word, he thanked the Mayor of Szczecin and his team for full involvement: "It is our joint undertaking and our joint celebrations".
After addresses delivered by both guests, the journalists were given the opportunity to ask additional questions. They were mostly interested in detailed programme of the celebrations and attractions prepared for the people as well as other Corps’ undertakings preceding the Anniversary, including opening of several exhibitions, which aim at presenting Multinational Corps Northeast to the widest public possible.
Comments