NATO to Deploy 700 Additional Troops to Kosovo Following Clashes

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, May 30, the alliance would deploy an additional 700 troops to Kosovo after peacekeepers were injured in clashes sparked by soaring ethnic tensions in the country’s north.

Speaking in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, Stoltenberg said NATO would “take all necessary actions to maintain a safe and secure environment for all citizens in Kosovo.”

The NATO chief said an additional battalion of reserve forces would be placed on high readiness. Credit: NATO via Storyful

Video Transcript

- KFOR, the native forces, will take all necessary actions to maintain a safe and secure environment for all citizens in Kosovo. And we will continue to act impartially, in line with our United Nations mandate. We have decided to deploy 700 more troops from the operational reserve force for Western Balkans, and to put an additional battalion of reserve forces on higher readiness, so they can also be deployed if needed. These are prudent steps to ensure that KFOR has the forces and capabilities it needs to fulfill its mandate.

KFOR, the NATO forces, will take all necessary actions to maintain a safe and secure environment for all citizens in Kosovo. And we will continue to act impartially, in line with our United Nations mandate.

We have decided to deploy 700 more troops from the operational reserve force for Western Balkans, and to put an additional battalion of reserve forces on higher readiness, so they can also be deployed if needed. These are prudent steps to ensure that KFOR has the forces and capabilities it needs to fulfill its mandate.