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Slovenia says it is ready to increase the number of troops in Kosovo

2024-03-21 15:59:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Slovenia is ready to increase the number of its troops in the peacekeeping mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Kosovo, KFOR, said on Thursday the Secretary General of the military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, and the Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Brussels, Stoltenberg praised Slovenia for its role in stabilizing the Western Balkans in the two decades since it became a NATO member.

"Slovenia for many years has contributed its soldiers and forces to our peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, and we welcome Prime Minister Golob's announcement of the readiness to increase even more the Slovenian contribution to our mission, KFOR," said Stoltenberg. Slovenia currently has 103 soldiers in the peacekeeping mission of the military alliance in Kosovo.

Golob said that the KFOR mission is perhaps "the most important and successful story of cooperation within NATO, on how to stabilize the region."

He said that, although Slovenia has reduced its contribution in recent years, it is ready to do more if necessary.

"And it looks like, yes, it could happen in the next month, but that's something that needs to be discussed and decided," he said.

In an annual NATO report, published on March 14, Stoltenberg said that NATO's military presence in Kosovo is essential for maintaining peace and stability in the entire Western Balkans region.

Tensions in the north of Kosovo began to rise at the end of May 2023, after the new mayors of the municipalities of Zveçan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq, accompanied by the Kosovo Police, entered the municipal buildings.

Serbian residents opposed this and organized protests that culminated in violence on May 29 in Zveçan, where dozens of demonstrators and KFOR soldiers were injured.

They escalated a few months later, on September 24, when the Kosovo Police was attacked by a group of armed Serbs in Banjska in Zveçan in the north of the country, where one policeman and three attackers were killed.

As a result, NATO increased the number of its soldiers in the peacekeeping mission, KFOR, in Kosovo.

According to Stoltenberg's report, the KFOR mission now has 4,700 members in Kosovo, including the reserve force. This number will increase even more, if a decision is made for Slovenia to increase the number of troops in Kosovo next month.

On Wednesday, the American ambassador to Kosovo, Jeff Hovenier, said that the citizens of Kosovo should not worry about threats and possible attacks, as the NATO mission in Kosovo is "ready to do the right thing".

Hovenier said that the security guarantees that the United States has given to Kosovo continue to be strong, while he said that Kosovo benefits in terms of security from the presence of the KFOR mission, which "is a completely deterrent force against any kind of attack that the citizens may to be worried"./ Rel