Nato ministers discuss reduction of KFOR numbers

Belgrade, June 21. 2010. (Serbia Today) NATO defense ministers met recently in Brussels to, among other issues, consider a possibility of further cutting KFOR numbers in Kosovo. The ministers concluded that additional political and military assessments of the security situation in Kosovo were needed before a decision is made on the reduction of the number of KFOR troops to 5,000 and on shifting the mission into a "deterrent phase.” The defense ministers of NATO and other countries whose troops are part of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in the province said that “despite the occasional security incidents in Kosovo, general developments are still moving in the right direction, toward greater security and stability, as well as stronger local institutions.” This was stated by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who said that the ministers had not yet developed an exact program of reducing and transforming KFOR into a deterrent mission, although this is the aim that will be gradually achieved. Rasmussen was asked at a news conference to say whether the KFOR mission would be downsized regardless of the recent clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs on the bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica and of other incidents. "We occasionally witness some incidents, as was the case a couple of weeks ago, but I believe", Rasmussen said, "that the general development is clear - an improvement of the security situation." "And this will allow for a gradual reduction of our military presence (in Kosovo)," Rasmussen explained.