Balkans Need U.S. Troops Staying in Kosovo, Albania Leader

Says September 28, 2010, By Bloomberg

BY Peter S. Green

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. must keep troops in Kosovo to ensure peace in the Balkan peninsula as sectarian fervor continues to dog the region’s politics, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said in an interview.

Berisha also said he’ll tell Serbian President Boris Tadic on a forthcoming visit to Belgrade that his country must accept a July 22 ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague recognizing the legitimacy of Kosovo’s 2008 referendum on independence from Serbia.

“The U.S. military presence is crucial for stability; the risk from nationalists is still real,” Berisha said. “Nationalism hasn’t disappeared from the peninsula.”

Serbia, backed by Russia, has refused to recognize Kosovo’s independence after the referendum and the 1999 North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led bombing campaign that forced the Serbian army and Serbian paramilitary units from Kosovo after a crackdown on ethnic Albanians in what then was a Serbian province.

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