From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  As regards Kosovo, first of all, I have taken the opportunity today to express my strong appreciation of the Czech contribution to the KFOR mission. I’ve also been informed about Czech considerations to reduce the contribution to KFOR.

Let me stress that all partners within KFOR are right now considering a reduction of the military presence in Kosovo and that follows a plan provided by KFOR. It is actually our plan to scale down.

The problem is, and that’s the question I have raised, the problem is that in total, in total, the reductions seem to be too big and we have to make sure that even if we scale down we will still have a presence in Kosovo to sufficiently ensure stability and peace. So I have encouraged all KFOR partners to reconsider the size of their reductions. I do not question… I do not question their reduction, because that is part of our strategy, but I have urged all allies and partners to reconsider the size of their reduction.

Excerpt from joint press conference by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas.  (photo: NATO)

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