NATO is to halve the 10,000-strong peacekeeping force it maintains in Kosovo in a sign of the former Serbian province's growing stability, the alliance's secretary general said Friday, DPA reported.
NATO has been involved in Kosovo since 1999, when its bombers put an end to what Western powers saw as a Serbian campaign of ethnic cleansing. At its height, the alliance had tens of thousands of troops in its peacekeeping KFOR force.
But on Friday, NATO "decided to adjust the KFOR presence in Kosovo. Over the next few months, KFOR will progressively reduce its presence to around 5,000 troops in total, marking one more step in the adaptation of KFOR to a deterrent presence," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.
"Deterrent presence" is the NATO term for a force which is largely confined to a limited number of bases, but which is ready to intervene if serious fighting breaks out. The fact of its presence is meant to be enough to deter trouble-makers.
"KFOR will remain able to deploy forces quickly and effectively whenever and wherever necessary, including with robust reserves," Rasmussen said.
The decision comes after NATO member states decided that the province, which declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, was sufficiently peaceful to allow the scale-down.
"The security conditions in Kosovo continue to improve, which is a positive sign not only for Kosovo, but for the whole region. Local institutions are increasingly capable of assuming responsibility for security tasks," Rasmussen said.
The decision also came after Serbia softened its approach to Kosovo within the United Nations, a move NATO warmly welcomed.