Troop increase
August 2, 2011
NATO plans to send hundreds more peacekeeping troops to Kosovo after a sharp escalation of violence there between ethnic Serbs and Albanians, the alliance said on Tuesday.
Officials denied the troop build-up was directly linked to the violence.
"The reason for the deployment is to relieve forces currently engaged in maintaining security," NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said. "It's not that the situation has gotten worse, but that KFOR troops have been very active and the commander considers the troops need to be relieved."
The KFOR mission, short for Kosovo Force, currently has about 6,000 troops in Kosovo. Officials said the additional troops were already on standby in Germany, and that the reserve battalion consists of 600 Germans and 100 Austrians.
Border crossing dispute
Violence erupted last week when Kosovo replaced several units of mostly Serb border police with ethnic Albanians at two border posts in the north of Kosovo. The police were to enforce an import ban from Serbia which the government said was in retaliation for Serbia's refusal to accept Kosovar customs stamps.
NATO sent in peacekeeping forces to quell the violence, which lasted three days. In that time, one ethnic Albanian policeman was shot dead and a group of Serb nationalists set fire to one of the crossing points.
A number of Serbs also set up road blocks to prevent the NATO troops from reaching the peacekeeping forces stationed at border posts. The NATO mission said it had removed three road blocks on secondary roads, but that tensions were still high as local Serbs still refused to let them pass via main roads.
The border crossings are seen as a vital connection to Serbia by ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. Much of northern Kosovo also relies on Serbia for food and medical supplies.
The European Union sent British diplomat Robert Cooper to Pristina on Tuesday to mediate the crisis. He had reportedly met with top Serbian negotiators on Monday, and was meeting Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci on Tuesday.
Author: Andrew Bowen (Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Michael Lawton