By SPA,
Pristina, Kosovo : NATO says some 200 British peacekeepers have arrived in Kosovo to help improve security as the government prepares to take control of the country.
The troops are the first of 600 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Rifles that will be sent to Kosovo’s ethnically tense north, the Associated Press reported.
Kosovo’s authorities will take over from the United Nations on June 15, almost four months after declaring independence from Serbia.
Germany, Italy and Britain each provide a battalion of around 600 troops in reserve to back up NATO and European Union forces in the Balkans. NATO commands 16,000 troops in Kosovo.
Saturday’s deployment is the first such reinforcement from Britain in four years. In 2004 British peacekeepers were rushed into Kosovo to quell ethnic riots.