Italian army more worried about Kosovo than Afghanistan, Lebanon
Italian army sees more serious direct dangers in developments in internationally-administrated Kosovo, than in its missions in turbulent Afghanistan or explosive Lebanon.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Italian defense minister Arturo Parisi described the situation as potentially explosive due to the possible changes in province's status, which might come out as a result of the December 10 deadline in negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, and Kosovo Albanian's warnings that they would declare independency shortly afterwards.
"Kosovo is surely the biggest concern. It is exposed to a change and therefore a possible stress. It is also the closest region to Italy," the Italian defense minister said.
The Italians, with their 2,200-strong contingent which controls the northwestern part of Kosovo including two key Serb Orthodox medieval monasteries, are the second largest contributor to Kfor.
