CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo, May 21 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden praised American troops for their work in helping form an independent Kosovo.
On a visit to predominantly Albanian Kosovo, his first since it declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, Biden went to the U.S. Bondsteel military camp for lunch, which included his favorite ice-cream.
Biden said the NATO contingent in Kosovo is the second largest deployment in the organization's history. It includes troops from 33 countries, 25 NATO member countries and eight non-NATO members, bringing stability and prosperity to Kosovo.
The largest NATO deployment is the International Security Assistance Forces, or ISAF, in Afghanistan.
Biden told the American troops they protected innocent people in Kosovo exactly 10 years ago and now they are providing Kosovars the security to construct an independent, democratic and multiethnic state.
Biden also paid tribute to the families of 4,295 soldiers killed in Iraq, 679 fallen soldiers in Afghanistan and 34,084 wounded in the two countries.
Biden told the troops they are admired for their work in Kosovo.
