February 25, 2000
Brussels - NATO scrambled Friday to smother cries of alarm over its Kosovo peacekeeping operation but conceded some allies had let their troop strength slip and others were withholding their units from flashpoints.
The alliance said units would be restored to their full complements. Four countries had volunteered more soldiers and military experts had been charged with the task of identifying further requirements precisely, a NATO official said.
Outgoing NATO supreme commander General Wesley Clark went public this week with complaints that some contingents had whittled back their contributions and some placed unacceptable limits on the use of their forces in hot-spots.
Clark said he did not have enough men or flexibility for the job and, while insisting that the KFOR peacekeeping mission's numbers were perfectly adequate, the 19-member alliance on Friday conceded these points needed attention. Military sources said Clark had highlighted a problem and it was now being looked at. Allies should stick to the letter and spirit of their commitments in Kosovo and "stop quiet withdrawals for domestic reasons."' Some units were engaged in very demanding situations. They were tired and KFOR commander General Klaus Reinhardt needed the flexibility to rotate them out, the sources said.
ANNIVERSARY JITTERS
With the first anniversary of its March 24 launch of air strikes against Yugoslavia approaching, NATO is nervous about the impact of skeptical reviews on alliance public opinion.
``As we approach the first anniversary of Operation Allied Force, I wish to stress once more that NATO's mission in Kosovo is a success,'' Secretary-General George Robertson said in a statement after a special meeting of alliance ambassadors and top military commanders. The situation in the tense northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica was under control, Robertson said. ``It flared up but we dealt with the unrest decisively. ``We are determined to keep KFOR at the right strength to allow it to carry out all its security tasks in Kosovo.''
The NATO official said: ``There are some battalions which are under strength and there is a clear need to get them back to full strength.'' Some contingents had been ``hollowed out'' by the withdrawal of units over the past eight months, he said.
``There was a general recognition that units have to be kept at full strength, not whittled away. We can't tolerate a situation where we have hollowed out units,'' the official said.
RING AROUND MITROVICA
The official also said KFOR commander General Klaus Reinhardt had presented a four-point stabilization plan for Mitrovica to secure its Serb enclave, eliminate the city dividing line, isolate the northern half from manipulation by Belgrade and control access from the south of Kosovo. Mitrovica, in a zone of Kosovo mostly controlled by French troops, came close to breakdown last week when tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians were allowed to march on the city from the capital, Pristina. NATO troops have since carried out weapons seizures and calm has returned.
The official said many allies had accepted the need for their contingents to be redeployed at short notice to handle potential flashpoints in a ``very demanding mission.'' No sector was the sole responsibility of any particular nation, the official said. There was a ``duty of solidarity.''
The rest of Kosovo, which is divided into five KFOR command sectors, has been comparatively quiet. France, which was first to offer more troops this week, had been singled out for allegedly mishandling Mitrovica. The official said the allies had stressed ``the need for absolute even-handedness'' in dealing with the opposing Serb and ethnic Albanian camps.
Clark has asked for three additional battalions - around 2,000 troops - to be put at Reinhardt's disposal. This would raise the number of NATO troops in the province to 32,000, with a further 7,400 from partner countries.
KFOR To Be Reinforced By Two Battalions From France And Italy
Agence France Presse/Yugoslavia TodayMar 14, 2000
Pristina, - The international peacekeeping force in Kosovo is to be reinforced by two battalions sent from France and Italy, NATO sources said Tuesday. Responding to a call from the supreme commander of allied forces in Europe, US General Wesley Clark, Italy offered last week to make its San Marco battalion available for KFOR duties. French Defence Minister Alain Richard announced on February 23 that Paris was ready to send 700 extra soldiers to Kosovo. The deployments are due to be ratified by a NATO ambassadors meeting Wednesday.
KFOR currently has 37,000 troops from 36 countries in Kosovo, of whom 30,000 come from NATO member states, according to statistics from the 19-nation alliance. Clark appealed February 24 for an extra 2,000 troops.