A reduction in the tally of peacekeepers in Kosovo is conceivable since the region has been calm for months, the officer commanding the German contingent said in an interview Thursday. Ethnic Albanian dominated Kosovo, which declared independence early last year, is being secured by 16,000 soldiers of the KFOR peacekeeping force, 2,200 of them Germans commanded by Brigadier-General Harald Fugger. Interviewed by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, Fugger described the situation in Kosovo as stable. "There are always little incidents," he said, but added Kosovo was no more dangerous than tough German inner cities were. "In a very small area, five different religions and many ethnic groups have to co-exist, but there are still no major problems." He said the German sector in the south of Kosovo was very calm, and Western military officials told him the other four sectors of Kosovo were similarly calm.
