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| The End of the Mission to Kosovo |
| (2011-09-27) |
| Last updated: 2011-09-28 12:51 EET |
After three years of presence in Kosovo, the 175 Romanian gendarmes and police officers deployed in the former Serbian province are to return home. The decision was made at the latest meeting of Higher Defense Council of Romania and details of the pull out, planned to take place in December, are to be established jointly with the European partners.
Though part of the small group of European countries that have not recognized Kosovo’s independence, Romania has actively participated in maintaining the security of the former Serbian province. After the conflicts that shook the former Yugoslav area in the early 90s, security in the region became a priority for all European chancelleries, including the Bucharest one. Geographically quite close to Kosovo, Romania, a neighbor of Serbia, has constantly refused to acknowledge the independence of that province ever since 2008. Its political stand, though, has not influenced military decisions regarding Romania’s presence in Kosovo.
The first Romanian military were deployed in early 2000, and carried out their mission under the UN – KFOR mandate. Those troops came back home in 2008, being replaced by over 170 gendarmes and police officers. Their performance in Kosovo was described by the heads of the EU–run EULEX mission as being “in the service of peace”. Their pull out was motivated by an improved security and was decided as early as 2009. In another move, in the past month, mounting tension has been reported between the majority Muslim Kosovars and the Serbian minority community, living in the north of Kosovo.
Violence started when the Kosovo police tried to get control over the border check points with Serbia, in the north of the province. The Prishtina authorities’ attempt triggered international reactions. Russia, one of Serbia’s traditional allies, has warned that attempts to take control of the border check points under dispute can entail another bloodshed. In turn, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on the parties to do whatever they can to avoid another conflict in the north of Kosovo. So, international forces are pulling out, but fears over security in the former Serbian province stay.
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