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| Europe |
| NATO pulls out 3,500 soldiers from Bosnia |
| 2007-03-02 |
| (KUNA) -- Within the next six months, 3,500 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) peacekeeping soldiers working in the Balkan region would be withdrawn, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana's spokeswoman, Christine Galliach said Thursday. In a phone call with KUNA, Galliach said that the pull out would not affect "readiness and efficiency" of the troops in Bosnia, stating that troops' reduction from 6,000 to 2,500 would be done in a dynamic yet gradual manner. NATO forces were taking direct responsibility for security in Bosnia, and would continue observing the situation in the region in order for it to get involved whenever necessary, the EU official said. She added that the international follow-up committee's decision taken on February 28 to extend the mandate for the international commission for an additional year came to maintain stability in southeast Europe. In a related development, the Bosnian presidency today called for an expanded meeting with major political parties of the parliament to discuss a draft resolution presented by EU police experts to unify police duties in Bosnia. The plan was apposed by Serb representatives in the parliament who claimed the plan would jeopardize the ethnic identity of their autonomous ruling, representing 49 percent of Bosnian land. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 And, in addition to the above, I believe it behooves us to remember that President Clinton promised that the Bosnia mission would not be "open ended" and that US soldiers would be, if I remember correctly, "home by Christmas". That was how many Christmas's ago? |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-03-02 22:27 |
| #1 dynamic yet gradual manner - how European! Bosnia....Does the US still have troops there? How long were they there? How many were killed again; I forget. Civilians? Fluffy ducks? Baby kittens? Chinese embassies? Was there any sectarian violence there? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-03-02 06:00 |