NATO chief meets Kosovo leaders

PRISTINA, Kosovo, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- NATO's chief told Kosovo leaders the newly independent state remains one of the alliance's priorities despite plans to reduce the number of peacekeepers.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATOs' new secretary general, in Pristina for talks with Kosovo Albanian leaders, Thursday said NATO will reduce the number of troops because commanders in the country consider the security situation in Kosovo is stable enough, the Serbian news agency Beta reported.

NATO troops have been in Kosovo since 1999 when the alliance sent peacekeepers to curb ethnic armed conflicts.

In 1999, there were about 50,000 NATO troops in Kosovo. Commanders want to reduce the force from the present 14,000 to under 10,000 soldiers next year.

Leaders of about 1.8 million Kosovo ethnic Albanians declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 despite strong opposition from the Belgrade government.

The Serbian minority in Kosovo amounts to about 200,000.