Security 'key to Kosovo's future'

Britain today vowed to help Kosovo improve its security as the disputed UN-run province nears possible talks on its future.

British Defence Secretary John Reid, who is on a three-day Balkans trip, said that despite other commitments such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Kosovo remains high on the British political agenda.

Delivering a lasting improvement to the security in the province “is a first and vital step to making sure that we have a stable, sustainable, prosperous future for people in Kosovo,” Reid said.

He made the comments following a meeting with Soren Jessen-Petersen, the top UN official in the province.

During his one-day stop in Kosovo Reid met some of the 200 British troops who form part of the 17,500-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force, at their barracks just outside Pristina.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by NATO since 1999. The province remains disputed, with its ethnic Albanian majority demanding independence while Serbs want it to remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

Talks to resolve the disputed province’s status are likely to start later this year.