Handover ceremony of the Chief of the Defence staff of the operation ‘Nato mission Iraq’

• Italian General Nicola Piasente takes over from the Spanish Brigadier General Ricardo Esteban Cabrejos as the head of the mission of Defence Staff

The handover ceremony between Brigadier General Ricardo Esteban Cabrejos and the General Nicola Piasente has already taken place. The ceremony was presided over by the Lieutenant General José Antonio Agüero Martínez at the multinational base of U-III (Baghdad).

Brigadier General Esteban ends the deployment in Irak after having served as Chief of the Spanish contingent in Irak, Kuwait and Jordan, as well as Chief of Staff of the NATO Mission Iraq.

From this moment onwards, Italian General Nicola Piasente is the new head, succeeding Brigadier General Esteban, who has demonstrated a profound level of commitment and professionalism in the accomplishment of the mission.

At the present time, 370 Spanish military personnel are deployed in Irak as part of the NATO mission and the Operation Inherent Resolve from the International Coalition in the country.