UK to boost presence in Kosovo

Refugees have fled the fighting on the Macedonia-Kosovo border

LONDON, England -- Britain will send reinforcement troops to Kosovo to help Macedonia track ethnic Albanian rebels, Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

The 120 troops sent in to boost NATO forces will operate unmanned surveillance aircraft and will be in place next month.

Blair also said on Monday that British and Scandinavian soldiers already serving in the NATO-led KFOR force would form a unit of 400 for quick deployment along the Kosovo-Macedonian border.

NATO chief George Robertson said the alliance would continue to step up security along the frontier.

The extra troops will join over 3,000 British soldiers serving in the KFOR force of around 40,000.

British defence officials argued last week that more British troops were not needed in the tense Balkan region, where Macedonian forces launched a dramatic assault on Sunday on ethnic Albanian rebels who are dug in above the town of Tetovo.

Blair said a division between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians must be avoided.

"Macedonia has started to build a multi-ethnic society, and it is in all our interests that the country succeeds and does not polarise into separate Slav and Albanian communities," Blair said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Macedonian Government
European Union
NATO
United Nations

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