Slovakia plans to decrease the number of its troops in the KFOR mission in Kosovo from 140 to about 20 by the end of 2010, said Chief of Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces Ľubomír Bulík on December 14 during his visit in Šajkovac, Kosovo, as reported by the TASR newswire. He added that those Slovak troops that will remain in the mission should have special capabilities especially in the reconnaissance area.
Bulík said that the reduction of troops will be gradual to maintain security and to upkeep balance between the operational tasks and KFOR structures. He evaluated the existing activities of the Slovak soldiers in KFOR as positive.
“I can be proud about what our troops do to fulfil the operational tasks,” Bulík said. “This ensues from the evaluation presented by the KFOR headquarters.”
According to the Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Baška, the Slovak troops in Kosovo at present mainly supervise the maintenance of cease-fire between the minority Serbs and majority Albanians. They also guard some monuments such as the one that the Slovak delegation visited on December 14. This monument and eight others should be transferred to the guardianship of Kosovo police, TASR wrote. TASR
Compiled by Michaela Stanková from press reports
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