NATO holds more than 4,600 troops in Kosovo, Italy and the US, with larger contingents

According to the latest data, Italy has the largest contingent with 907 soldiers, followed by the United States with 590, Hungary with 408 and Turkey with 382 troops.

These four countries make up nearly half of KFOR forces in Kosovo.

Among the biggest contributors are Germany with 308 soldiers, Poland with 247, Switzerland with 200 and Romania with 188 troops.

Of the countries in the region, Albania contributes 126 soldiers, Croatia with 151, while northern Macedonia with 70 troops.

Other European countries and NATO partners, including the United Kingdom, Finland, Greece, Austria and Canada, participate in the mission.

Allied Supreme Commander in Europe, U.S. Air Force General Alexandrus G. Grinkewich, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) would gradually adapt force to support its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, over the next year, due to, as he said, improving the security situation in the country.

“NATO and KFOR are committed to security in Kosovo”, commander Grenkewich said through an announcement 12 June.

It is this commitment that has led to increased stability, while security organisations in Kosovo have become more capable. Current conditions provide opportunities to optimise the size and positioning of KFOR”, he added.

Peacekeeping Mission NATO in Kosovo is located in 1999 in the country. About 50,000 troops were deployed in that year, after the war ended, in Kosovo currently there are about 4,600 KFOR peacekeeping troops from various states.

KFOR is the third security responser in Kosovo, following the Kosovo Police and the European Union Law Mission for Sundiction, E ULEX. This peacekeeping mission also has security responsibility along Kosovo's border with Serbia.

In NATO's announcement that comes on the 27th anniversary of its troops' entry into Kosovo, following the alliance's air campaign on Serbian targets said the security situation has continued to improve in recent years. For this reason, in January NATO halted the deployment of reserve forces in KFOR after almost two years of continuous rotation.

The security situation in Kosovo remains generally stable, NATO will optimise KFOR's presence and will gradually adapt its current force during next year”, it said in announcing the Western military alliance.

The changes will take place gradually in line with conditions on the ground and they can be undone, if necessary, NATO said.

The Western military alliance thought it had increased the number of delocations for almost 1,000 additional troops after tensions and violence in 2023, including “unjustified attacks on KFOR peacekeepers in Zvecan”. This dislocation, according to NATO, was the largest in over a decade.

On 29 May 2023, 93 KFOR members had suffered injuries following the clash with Serb protesters, who were opposing the taking over of Albanian mayors in four municipalities in the north, inhabited by Serb majority. Injured by this clash, there were also protesters.

So far, for violence in Zvecan, several people have been convicted.

Besides providing security at the border line between Kosovo and Serbia, KFOR also has a role in providing security in the northern part of Kosovo.

Through a 2013 pledge, Kosovo cannot send the Kosovo Security Force which is in the process of transforming into the army in the north without prior consenting the KFOR mission.

This commitment was given through a letter former Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci had addressed to then NATO Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen. It remains in force today, despite changes in the KSF's mandate.

NATO also said it continues to support dialogue on the normalisation of reports between Kosovo and Serbia that develop under the European Union's mediation, calling on parties to resolve disputes and reach a solution that respects the rights of all communities.

“This is key for long-term security in Kosovo and stability in the region”, KFOR's announcement said.

General Grinkewich also said that NATO is committed to the Western Balkans, which he named a region of strategic importance for the alliance, whose security, according to him, is directly linked to the security of the Euro-Atlantic zone, adding that NATO will not allow the security vacuum to be”.