FRANCE PULLING OUT OF PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN KOSOVO
November 28, 2013 – 19:30 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – NATO’s supreme commander says France is pulling out
of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo because of commitments in Mali
and Central African Republic, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. Gen. Philip Breedlove says the decision to remove most of
the 320 peacekeepers was a national decision taken by Paris and the
withdrawal won’t impact the mission. Breedlove said Thursday, Nov 28,
that some French military staff will remain in Kosovo. No timing for
the withdrawal was given.
French peacekeepers, which serve as part of the 5,000-strong NATO-led
mission, were often caught in violent clashes between minority Serbs
and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo’s volatile north.
NATO sent 50,000 soldiers into Kosovo in 1999 after a 78-day air
war forced Serb troops to withdraw and end a brutal crackdown on
separatist ethnic Albanians.
From: A. Papazian
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