Frederik on secret visit to Danish troops in Afghanistan

Photo © Forsvarsministeriet/EB

Crown Prince Frederik has made a secret visit to Afghanistan to support Danish troops serving with NATO forces with the Danish Minister of Defence Søren Gade and is now on his way home. Frederik had expressed a wish to visit troops in Afghanistan for some years and it has always been a government decision as to if or when he made the visit. The Minister for Defence has made numerous visits during Denmark's engagement with NATO forces.

Ministry of Defence press release:

H.R.H. Crown Prince Frederik and Minister of Defence Søren Gade in Afghanistan
H.R.H. Crown Prince Frederik and the Danish Minister of Defence, Søren Gade, are currently on their way home from southern Afghanistan where they have visited Danish soldiers.
03-12-2008 hrs. 12:08

Crown Prince Frederik and Minister of Defence Søren Gade have visited the Danish Defence's camps on their three day visit in the south of Afghanistan.
H.R.H. The Crown Prince and the Minister of Defence have thus experienced the military operations and living conditions of the soldiers up close and have had the opportunity to talk with the soldiers about their experiences as well as thank them for their effort.
H.R.H. The Crown Prince and the minister arrived on Monday evening at the Armadillo forward operations base.
Here they stayed overnight and stayed on equal terms with the soldiers, which implies a sleeping bag, a camp bed and field rations.
From there they went to the Price forward operations base where the delegation stayed overnight again, and then went on to Camp Bastion.
The trip also included a visit to the district centre near Gereshk as well as a meeting with Gereshk's district governor, Adbul Ahad Khan, and the town's mayor, Said Dur Ali Shar.
There are currently around 690 Danish soldiers with NATO'S International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, in which the main part is in and around the town of Gereshk in Helmand, a province in the south of Afghanistan.

And the same details in Politiken and other news outlets:
Politiken 'Kronprinsen på hemmeligt besøg i Afghanistan' - The Crown Prince on secret visit in Afghanistan
Crown Prince Frederik and Minister of Defence Søren Gade have visited the Danish soldiers in Afghanistan in secrecy.
During their three day long stay in the unstable Helmand province, Crown Prince Frederik and Søren Gade have experienced the soldiers' operations and living conditions at close range and they have had the opportunity to talk with the soldiers about their experiences as well as thank them for their effort.
They stayed overnight at the Armadillo forward operations base after the Crown Prince and the Minister of Defence arrived on Monday evening.
Here they stayed overnight and on equal terms with the soldiers, with a sleeping bag, a camp bed and field rations.
From there they went on a trip to the Price forward operations base where the delegation again stayed overnight, and then went on to Camp Bastion.
The trip also included a visit to the district centre near Gereshk as well as a meeting with Gereshk's district governor, Adbul Ahad Khan, and the town's mayor, Said Dur Ali Shar.
On the way home
There are at the moment about 690 Danish soldiers at NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan with the main part in and around the town of Gereshk in the Helmand province.
Both took off for the return to Denmark on Wednesday. /Ritzau/

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