NATO endorses KFOR scale-down

12/06/2009

NATO defence ministers decided on Thursday that, given the improved security situation in Kosovo, the Alliance can begin gradually scaling down its presence on the ground. As a result, a third of KFOR troops could leave the country within months.

(AFP - 11/06/09; AP, Reuters, DPA, Bloomberg, FT, BBC, VOA, The Kosovo Times, New Kosova Report, NATO - 11/06/09)

French KFOR soldiers patrol near the northern town of Mitrovica. NATO defence ministers agreed Thursday on a phased scale-down of ground operations in Kosovo. [Getty Images]

NATO defence ministers endorsed a plan for a phased reduction of the Alliance's ten-year old peacekeeping mission in Kosovo on Thursday (June 11th), citing the improved security situation in the newly independent state.

"Ministers decided today that the political and security conditions are right for a move towards a gradual adjustment of KFOR's force posture," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters following talks in Brussels.

While no official date has been set, KFOR, which currently has nearly 14,000 troops from 33 nations, could downsize to a 10,000-strong force within the next six months.

"That date might well be January 1st," de Hoop Scheffer said.

Defence ministers stressed that the North Atlantic Council, the Alliance's main decision body, would monitor every step in the process, taking into account the security situation on the ground.

NATO sources said the ultimate aim is to cut KFOR troops to about 2,500 over the next two years.

The mission was launched immediately after the end of the 1998-1999 conflict in Kosovo, when 50,000 international peacekeepers were deployed to the then-Serb province to prevent new hostilities and ensure a safe and secure environment. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17th 2008, despite Belgrade's staunch opposition. This sparked concerns about a potential return to violence in the region.

NATO stressed on Thursday that its decision to scale back its presence on the ground did not imply that it pland to abandon Europe's newest state.

"We will have the manoeuvre forces and reserves at all times when we need them," de Hoop Scheffer said at a news conference in Brussels.

NATO also stressed that KFOR will continue providing security in Kosovo "as long as necessary and as long as the UN Security Council does not decide otherwise".

The 2,500-strong EU justice and police mission operating in Kosovo and the country's own security force, which is set to expand to 2,500 within the next few months, will allow NATO to reduce its presence, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Thursday.

"We can now start a transition to a deterrence presence," the AP quoted Jung as saying as he arrived in Brussels for the two-day annual meeting of NATO defence ministers.

"The next steps must be politically assessed and then be decided," added Jung, whose country's nearly 2,400-strong contingent is the largest within KFOR.

Spain -- one of the four NATO member nations, including Greece, Romania and Slovakia, which have not recognised Kosovo -- recently announced its plans to withdraw 542 troops from KFOR. Italy, the second largest KFOR contributor, made it clear Thursday that it wants to cut its 1,935-strong contingent in half within six months. Denmark, which has 355 soldiers in Kosovo, has similar plans.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates stressed the need for downsizing to be carried out in a well-co-ordinated manner.

"My concern is that we do this in an organised and coherent fashion as an Alliance, and not countries leaving unilaterally," he told reporters.

There have been calls for part of the forces pulled out of Kosovo to be relocated to Afghanistan.

While noting that the planned withdrawal would "definitely free up forces", de Hoop Scheffer said such a "link was not made".