Kurti asks for significant increase of NATO troops in Kosovo

REUTERS/Laura Hasani

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has asked for the number of NATO troops in Kosovo to be increased in order to improve security.

Due to threats from Serbia and Russia, it would be urgently necessary to significantly increase the number of NATO troops in Kosovo, said Kurti in an interview with the German daily Welt, Deutsche Welle reported.

The Prime Minister said it would also be of help if more German soldiers were to join KFOR, the NATO peace-keeping force in Kosovo, and added that Kosovo has increased defense spending by 52 percent and that its Security Force has 5,000 soldiers and 3,000 reservists.

However, said Kurti, there are 48 Serbian military bases around Kosovo, and Russia and Serbia have close cooperation in the area of military policy, while in 2021 they had 104 maneuvers and activities in which Belarusian armed forces partially participated.