A contingent of 200 British soldiers of the first battalion of the Royal Prince of Wales Regiment and 130 soldiers from Romania arrived in Kosovo and joined the contingent of 400 soldiers already on the ground to reinforce the KFOR peacekeeping mission, it was announced today on the Facebook account of the international peacekeeping mission.
The new deployment of soldiers followed the violent attack on the Kosovo police on September 24 and increased tensions in the region, and the aim is to support the presence of KFOR in the north of Kosovo and patrols along the administrative line.
The decision was based on a request by the NATO Supreme Commander for Europe and was approved by the Allies in the North Atlantic Council as a precautionary step to ensure that KFOR has the forces it needs to fulfill its UN mandate to maintain a secure environment and freedom of movement for all people on Kosovo, the publication added.
The announcement states that NATO has been leading a peacekeeping operation in Kosovo since 1999 in accordance with its mandate under Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council. The KFOR mission has more than 4.500 soldiers from 27 NATO and partner countries.
To recall, NATO is in September announced that he had decided to send reinforcements to Kosovo due to the current crisis.
"We will always take all necessary actions to maintain a safe environment and freedom of movement for all people living in Kosovo." We do it impartially and in accordance with our UN mandate," the announcement read at the time.
Also, Serbs from the north of Kosovo have most trust in the KFOR mission, which was especially evident after the recent escalation in Banjska.
Members of KFOR are perceived by the Serbian community as professional and independent, unlike some other international factors, which are often perceived as pro-Albanian, according to the findings of the Demostat focus groups.
MJ/FoNet
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