Our troops in Afghanistan are expected to come back by July. The withdrawal operation is carefully organized with the only goal of ensuring the safety of all NATO mission troops, said Defense Minister Radmila Shekerinska on Friday.

“The latest meeting of NATO defense ministers discussed the longest NATO mission in Afghanistan, where we have also taken part over the past 20 years. A decision was adopted through consensus that the mission should be completed and we leave the country together. Due to the troops’ security, we agreed not to release any operational details, and we expect most of the troops to be withdrawn by July. Of course, this is carried out through a carefully organized military operation which only goal is to ensure the troops’ safety,” Minister Shekerinska told reporters.

She expressed satisfaction that the first part of the troops – doctors and nurses – came back to the country three days ago.

“The surgical team deployed in the Norwegian hospital is already back, they are all alive and well, satisfied from their engagement and experience. They received praise from their Norwegian colleagues, and this was the first non-typical military mission within our NATO membership, an important test,” added Shekerinska.