PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Germany will double its contribution of about 100 troops to the NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo in a demonstration of its commitment to regional security, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Monday.
Pistorius, who on a regional tour of Kosovo and neighboring Serbia, said Germany would add some other group of foot soldiers by spring to the 99 soldiers it already has in its near-strength peacekeeping force. of 4,500 men. He’s also ready to climb higher if necessary, he climbed.
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“The signal is strong and expresses our opinion on the stability of this region,” Pistorius said at a press conference with Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani.
NATO has been ramping up the level of the Kosovo Force, or KFOR, from about 3,800, following two violent incidents last year.
In May, Serb protesters in northern Kosovo clashed with NATO peacekeepers. In September, a fatal shootout ensued when about 30 Serb gunmen clashed with Kosovo police, killing a Kosovar officer and three Serb gunmen.
The KFOR force was created in 1999 following a NATO bombing crusade against Serbian positions to end the crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo and end their 1998-99 war.
Kosovo-Serbia relations remain tense, and European Union-facilitated talks on normalizing their ties are at a stalemate. Brussels has made it clear that such an agreement is a prerequisite to Kosovo and Serbia joining the bloc.
Kosovo unilaterally broke away from Serbia and declared independence in 2008, a move that Belgrade has refused to recognize.
The 1998-1999 war between Serbia and Kosovo killed some 13,000 people, most of them Kosovar Albanians. It ended after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign that forced Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo.
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