Moscow -- Thursday – Russia is to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from both Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moscow announced today.
“We have reached a final decision on the end of our participation in peacekeeping operations in the Balkans, and the appropriate official statement will be made in the next few days,” a Defence Ministry official told Interfax agency.
“Russia has no further strategic interest in the Balkans. We went into the Yugoslav province of Kosovo in 1999 in order to protect Serbs. Now there are virtually no Serbs there any more, just as there is no Yugoslavia,” said the source.
The 650 Russian troops in Kosovo and 320 in Bosnia cost Moscow 25 million dollars a year. “It’s better to use those resources on the development of the Russian armed forces,” said the official.
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