Senior KFOR officer says reserves deployed in Kosovo

NIKOLA BESEVIC / AFP

A KFOR commander said that NATO had deployed reserves in Kosovo prior to the expiration of the deadline to replace vehicle license plates, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

“As part of contingency planning, there are reserves that are rehearsed in terms of their arrival here,” KFOR regional commander East Colonel Christopher Samulski told reporters in camp Bondsteel.

He said that NATO could not rule out fresh tension in the north as the deadline approaches, adding that the Alliance is prepared to increase its troop presence in Kosovo.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Newsmax in New York that the situation in northern Kosovo is being “successfully de-escalated” but warned that added effort is needed to continue the Belgrade-Pristina negotiations and expressed the hope that Pristina will understand that this is an opportunity to reach compromise solutions “which is always better than the use of weapons”.

“The First Fusiliers from the UK are here as the strategic reserve which is a normal rehearsal of their entrance and integration in normal operations,” the colonel said.

According to the British Defense Ministry portal, the 1st Fusiliers are a premier Armoured Infantry battlegroup equipped with Warrior fighting vehicles.