Allied Reaction Force Spotted in Northern Kosovo

Kosovo Kfor (BETAPHOTO/SASA DJORDJEVIC)

The KFOR international peacekeeping force in Kosovo confirmed on Oct. 5 that members of the Allied Reaction Force had been spotted on the main bridge across the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica and other parts of northern Kosovo.

A NATO press release read that the Allied Reaction Force stood ready to contribute to stability across the Western Balkans. "The Allied Reaction Force [...] stands ready to contribute to NATO’s long-standing efforts for stability across the Western Balkans. Today, senior officers of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Headquarters in Italy [...] were in northern Kosovo with personnel of the Regional Command East of the [NATO-led KFOR] mission," the statement said.

Allied Reaction Force personnel will be deployed in Kosovo and North Macedonia until mid-October and will conduct various training activities for identifying logistical, infrastructural and operative requirements.

The Allied Reaction Force can serve as a strategic reserve force capable of being rapidly deployed in times of crisis, it can be deployed to prevent vertical and horizontal escalation, and can be quickly deployed to respond to other emerging crises, it said.