NATO's military presence in Kosovo is crucial to maintaining peace in the Western Balkans. Stability in the region of strategic importance for the Alliance.
This is stated in NATO's annual report, which was presented today in Brussels by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, BGNES reported.
It is published on the block's official website. The Allies' position on Kosovo is also detailed in a separate annex to the main document.
The report states that NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, has for years maintained a safe environment and free movement for all communities in Kosovo in cooperation with other international organizations such as the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) and others.
"In 2023, KFOR played a key role in ensuring stability in the country following the escalation of tensions in Northern Kosovo. Since the outbreak of violence in May and September, allies have deployed about 1,000 reserve forces to the mission, the largest increase in a decade. "KFOR is to triple the number of patrols and quadruple its presence in northern Kosovo," the report said.
Tensions in northern Kosovo began to rise in late May 2023 after the new Albanian mayors of the municipalities of Zvečan, Zubin Potok and Leposavich, accompanied by the Kosovo Police, entered the municipal buildings.
Serb residents of northern Kosovo opposed this and staged protests that ended in violence on May 29 in Zvečan, when dozens of demonstrators and KFOR soldiers were injured.
Tensions escalated a few months later, on September 24, when Kosovo police were attacked by a group of armed Serbs in Banska in Zvečan in the north of the country, killing one police officer and three assailants.
As a result, NATO increased the number of its troops in the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. According to Stoltenberg's March 14 report, the KFOR mission now has 4,700 personnel in Kosovo, including reserves.
In his annual report, Stoltenberg also mentioned the assistance that NATO provides to security organizations in Kosovo to build their capacity, especially in the areas of logistics, medical support, supplies and human resource management.
The document emphasizes NATO's full support for the EU-mediated dialogue to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
"NATO remains strongly committed to the Western Balkans, a region whose stability is of strategic importance to the Alliance," the text said.
The document recalls that in November the Secretary General visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the Headquarters of the Kosovo Force, after which he held a joint session with regional allied leaders in North Macedonia.
"The visit sent a strong signal of NATO's enduring commitment to peace and stability in the Western Balkans, against the backdrop of the complex regional and global security environment. In 2023, robust political dialogue and practical cooperation continued with Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATO also maintains political high-level dialogue with Serbia to resolve issues of importance for regional security," the document states.
The report also noted the main activities of the military bloc in the past year, from advocating to help Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, increasing the presence on the eastern flank to ensure the protection of the territory of all member countries, increasing investment, strengthening of the military capacity of the Alliance, to participation in peacekeeping missions. /BGNES
