NATO to cut Kosovo peacekeeper numbers

BRUSSELS

Turkish soldiers, serving in a NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR), patrol near the town of Zubin Potok on December 2, 2024. (AFP)

NATO said on June 12 it will cut troop numbers in its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo as the security situation has improved.

The KFOR mission — currently 4,600-strong — has been stationed in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbian forces.

"The current conditions provide an opportunity to optimize KFOR's size and posture further," U.S. General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said.

NATO said "calibrated reductions" were expected to follow this year and the cuts would "occur gradually and in line with conditions on the ground, and could be reversed."

The reduction to KFOR comes at a time when Washington is pushing to cut its military presence in Europe.

European diplomats said prior to the announcement that the United States had signalled it wanted to reduce its forces in KFOR.

NATO did not give any further details on which troops will be withdrawn.

The United States has just under 600 troops in the mission, according to figures from April.

NATO deployed an additional 1,000 troops to KFOR in 2023 following a rise in violence.

The U.S.-led defense alliance said that deployment was already halted earlier this year after the situation stabilised.

While tensions persist in the majority-Serb north, the last major incident was in September 2023 when a Kosovo police officer was killed during a gun battle with Serb separatists.