NATO: Not yet time to cut down forces in Kosovo
Kosovo is not yet safe enough for NATO to be able to reduce its forces, the head of the alliance's military committee said Thursday.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, May 07, 2010
NATO currently has some 10,000 troops in Kosovo, far below the peak of 50,000 that were deployed after NATO bombing in 1999.
The alliance is committed to reducing that number, but only when its top general, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR), judges that it would be safe to do so.
"At this stage, it didn't feel that the conditions were there for SACEUR to make a recommendation to move forward (on the reduction)," Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola told journalists at NATO's Brussels headquarters.
"This time will come in the not very distant future."
