NATO Expects to Cut Bosnia Force
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization expects to reduce its peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina by a third over the next six months, leaving about 20,000 troops in place, an alliance official said Friday.
The reduction plan, reflecting a more stable situation in the Balkan nation, will be discussed at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Toronto this month, the official said.
Allied sources said the plan is expected to reduce the number of U.S., British, French and German troops.
Ministers will also consider ideas for an overall rationalization of NATO’s peacekeeping commitments in the Balkans, which now involve about 80,000 troops in two big operations.
There are 31,000 troops serving in Bosnia and 45,000 in the Serbian province of Kosovo in Yugoslavia, plus additional units in Albania, Macedonia and Croatia.
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