NATO brings reserve troops to Kosovo as deadline approaches

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NATO brings reserve troops to Kosovo as deadline approaches

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo -- NATO brought in reserve troops to Kosovo for training as a deadline approaches for a spat between the Serbian minority and the government that could spark new unrest, one of the mission commanders said.

KFOR's regional commander east, Colonel Christopher Samulski, told reporters that reserves had been brought in as part of normal contingency planning. Samulski spoke at Camp Bondsteel, one of KFOR's bases.

The US officer did not give any concrete figures of how many reserve troops arrived in Kosovo, but spoke of a battalion-size unit. A battalion usually comprises between 500 and 1,000 troops.

More than two decades after NATO bombed Serbia to end the repression of Kosovo's Albanian majority, Kosovo Serbs protested in the summer over a requirement for them to use state-issued car number plates.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, as stated in 2008, and Serbians consider Belgrade, not Pristina, to be their capital. There are around 3,700 NATO peacekeepers still stationed in the former Serbian province to prevent violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

Roadblocks erected during the summer protests were only dismantled when NATO peacekeepers stepped in to oversee the process and Kosovo agreed to postpone the licensing rule, with a deadline now running out on October 31.

READ MORE: NATO ready to add forces if Serbia-Kosovo tensions worsen.

On Tuesday, KFOR's deputy commander said that NATO could not rule out new tensions in the north as the deadline approaches, adding that NATO was ready to bring more troops to Kosovo if tensions among minority Serbs flare again.

Samulski stated that reserve troops had been brought in for training.

The first fuseliers from the UK are here as the strategic reserve, which is a normal rehearsal of their entrance and integration in normal operations, said Samulski, referring to a British infantry unit.

Samulski said that KFOR could draw on reserves outside Kosovo.

There are other reserves that lie outside Kosovo that have different time frames in which they are expected to arrive if KFOR requests that they become available, he noted.

The current situation on the ground Samulski said that they are available should we consider that they are necessary.