U.S. reaffirms Balkans role

Rumsfeld: will consult Europe before withdrawing troops from Balkans

By CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre

THESSALONIKI, Greece (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has reaffirmed U.S. participation in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo.

A day after inspecting U.S. troops in Kosovo, and meeting with American military commanders there, Rumsfeld said he is "certainly" convinced of the continued need for U.S. troops there.

"There no question but that the SFOR (Bosnia Stabilisation Force) and KFOR (Kosovo Force) forces in the Balkans are making a very valuable contribution to stability in the region, and our interest is peace and stability in the region and finding ways to do it in the most effective and constructive possible way," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld's remarks came at a news conference prior to the opening session of the Southeastern Europe Defence Ministerial conference in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Balkan nations, including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, and Greece are attending the conference, with Ukraine attending as an observer.

Rumsfeld said the U.S. was still looking for ways to trim its troop deployments around the world, but would not reduce troop levels in the Balkans without consultations with Europe,

"The Bush administration's policy is that we are engaged in the Balkans with our friends and our allies, and we have always worked closely with them with respect to any adjustments of changes that have taken place over the years with respect to the force levels and the force deployments and organisation and that certainly would continue to be our policy and our full intention," said Rumsfeld.

Asked if he was convinced of the need for U.S. troops in Kosovo, Rumsfeld replied: "O certainly".

But Rumsfeld noted that the Bosnia and Kosovo operations were never intended to be a permanent missions, and the U.S. was working to draw down troops there on a reasonable timetable.

"Obviously the hope and goal of all of the nations that have troops in the Balkans, is that over a period of time the parties on the ground will sort through their differences in a peaceful and constructive way and find the kind of civil structures that will enable them to have the stability that would be necessary for them on a more durable basis," Rumsfeld said.