Kosovo Needs Stronger NATO Security Presence, Prime Minister Says

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has called for NATO to boost its peacekeeping force in Kosovo after ethnic tensions once again flared with Serbia. "A substantial increase in NATO soldiers and military equipment in our country would improve security and peace in Kosovo and in the entire Western Balkans region," Kurti told Germany's Die Welt newspaper in an article published on January 1. The NATO-led KFOR protection force has been tasked with guaranteeing security across Kosovo since 1999, following a war over the region that ended the same year. It comprises nearly 3,800 soldiers from more than two dozen countries.