Stoltenberg: Additional NATO troops to Kosovo, aim is to calm tensions

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today that the additional troops sent by the Alliance were heading towards Kosovo, but that this did not mean abandoning the search for a political solution to the conflict, N1 reports.

During a two-day meeting of Alliance diplomats in Oslo, he reiterated that the violence against KFOR peacekeepers in Kosovo is completely unacceptable, Reuters reports.

“NATO will remain vigilant. We will take care of the environment there. We are sending additional troops to help calm and reduce tensions”, Stoltenberg said when asked why the additional troops were being sent.

Two days ago, the Secretary General of NATO said he would send 700 more troops to Kosovo to quell the violence that has erupted in the north and to prepare another battalion to be sent if necessary.

“NATO is taking this step to ensure that KFOR has the forces and capabilities it needs to carry out its mandate,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Oslo after a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Store.

He “strongly condemned the unprovoked attacks on KFOR troops in north Kosovo, which led to the wounding of 30 peacekeepers, adding that the violence takes a step back Kosovo and the entire region and exposes Euro-Atlantic aspirations to risk.”