UK troops arrive in Kosovo for NATO peacekeeping mission

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The first British soldiers from a deployment of 200 arrived Friday to reinforce NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR).

"The deployment is based on a request by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and comes after the violent attack on Kosovo Police on 24 September and increased tensions in the region," said a Defense Ministry statement.

The UK announced last week that it will deploy additional troops that will join a more than 400-strong British contingent already in Kosovo as part of an annual exercise.

"Within a few days, the UK has responded to NATO’s call for reinforcements and deployed 200 additional soldiers from the First Battalion Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment for the Kosovo Force (KFOR)," Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said in the statement.

NATO said Friday that Romania will also send 100 extra troops to bolster KFOR.

"These deployments are a prudent step to ensure KFOR has the forces it needs to fulfil its UN mandate to maintain a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all people in Kosovo," it said.

KFOR currently consists of more than 4,500 troops contributed by 27 NATO allies and partners, according to the alliance

The region has been the scene of unrest since April, when local ethnic Serbs boycotted elections in northern Kosovo, followed by protests against the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Albanians are by far the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, followed by Serbs, with about half living in the north.

Amid unrest about the elections, NATO peacekeepers were deployed, including a group of extra Turkish reinforcements.

The last week has seen a “large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo," according to the US National Security Council, whose spokesman called the deployment “a very destabilizing development.”

Kosovo on Saturday called on Serbia to pull back its troops.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and gained recognition from many countries, including Türkiye. But Belgrade has never recognized Kosovo and claims that its territory is still part of Serbia.

*Talha Ozturk contributed to this report in Belgrade