NATO backs Kosovo force cut, studies more

By Andrew Gray
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's top operational commander has proposed cutting the alliance's peacekeeping force in Kosovo to just 2,500 from around 14,000 if security conditions allow, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.
Kosovo defied Serbia last year by declaring independence from Belgrade and was backed by many Western powers. NATO armies, stretched by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, have since then been looking to wind down their presence in Kosovo.
NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels were due to discuss a first scaling down of the force to 10,000 by January. The U.S. official said the plan by NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe John Craddock envisaged further cuts to 6,500 and 2,500.
"We want to do this orderly, we want to do it in a way that is stabilizing. There's no timeline, this is a conditions-based approach," said the official, who requested anonymity.
Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters there was broad support within NATO for reducing the NATO Kosovo force to what he called a "deterrent presence" but cautioned that it should not leave existing troops exposed.
"My concern is that we do this in an organized and coherent fashion as an alliance, and not countries leaving unilaterally," he told reporters on board a plane from the Dutch city of Maastricht to the NATO meeting.
Asked whether any troop withdrawals in Kosovo would free up troops for the alliance's battle against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, he said: "I would certainly hope so."
But he added: "I'm not going to bet the ranch on it."
IMPROVEMENT IN SECURITY
KFOR has been in Kosovo since 1999 under a United Nations mandate after a NATO bombing campaign to drive out Serb forces.
It can have up to 15,000 troops in Kosovo at any time but the level now is around 14,000, NATO officials said.
There had been wide fears in the West that Kosovo's move toward independence in January 2008 could increase tensions and fuel violence between its ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority, or reignite dormant tensions in the wider Balkans.
Those fears have largely proved unfounded and a mission review conducted for NATO found the security situation had improved enough for the initial reduction to 10,000.
"All steps after that will have to be evaluated at a political level," German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, whose country has some 2,200 troops in the NATO force, told reporters as he arrived for the meeting.
Support within the 28-nation alliance for a reduction in Kosovo troop numbers seemed strong. Continued...
Source: Reuters