KFOR could reduce troops to 5, 000

20 May 2010, Source: Tanjug

WASHINGTON -- NATO could speed up its plans to reduce the military presence in Kosovo, said reports this Thursday. The number of KFOR soldiers could go from 15,000 to 5,000 in 2010, announced NATO Allied Commander Europe Admiral James Stavridis. “The situation in the Balkans is not perfect but it is improving,” Stavridis told a press conference. “I will reduce the number of soldiers in Kosovo from 15,000 to 10,000, or maybe even to 5,000 later in 2010,” Stavridis was quoted as saying. NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced in September 2009 that the alliance would stick to its plan to cut down the number of KFOR soldiers from 15,000 to 10,000 in 2010. At the time, Rasmusen pointed out that a detailed analysis of the security situation in Kosovo would precede every decrease in the number of soldiers so as to avoid any negative consequences to the region.