NATO has introduced reserve troops to Kosovo for coaching, growing the alliance’s presence within the breakaway province by as much as 1,000 troopers. As navy tensions with Serbia simmer, a commander for the bloc stated that extra may very well be deployed within the close to future.
Colonel Christopher Samulski, a regional commander with NATO’s KFOR Kosovo mission, informed reporters on Wednesday that the troopers had been introduced in “as a part of regular contingency planning,” Reuters reported.
Samulski didn’t reveal what number of reserves had arrived however stated that they amounted to a “battalion-size” unit, with a battalion typically numbering between 500 and 1,000 troops. The commander stated that the First Fusiliers of the British Military are amongst these participating within the coaching.
Round 3,700 KFOR troops are normally stationed in Kosovo at anyone time.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after NATO waged a bombing marketing campaign towards Serbia on behalf of ethnic Albanian separatists within the province. Kosovo’s independence is acknowledged by 97 out of 193 UN member states, most of them US allies. Serbia, Russia, and China are amongst those that don’t acknowledge Kosovo’s independence.
Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia escalated in August after Pristina handed a regulation banning Serbian-issued paperwork and automobile license plates. Kosovo tried to implement the brand new measure by sending closely armed particular police to take management of the Serbia-Kosovo border whereas native Serbs resisted by erecting roadblocks and fascinating in violent clashes with Pristina’s forces.
Kosovo then agreed to delay the implementation of the regulation till September 1, earlier than extending the deadline to October 31. With this date looming, Samulski stated that “different reserves that lie outdoors Kosovo” may very well be made accessible “ought to we deem that they’re required, primarily based on the present scenario on the bottom.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused Kosovo of threatening his nation’s safety by sending its particular forces to frame areas. Having earlier vowed to “save our individuals” in Kosovo from “persecution and pogroms” if essential, Vucic warned lawmakers in Belgrade on Tuesday that “the hazard is shut, goal and severe.”
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