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| Europe |
| Germany takes first step toward withdrawing troops from Bosnia |
| 2006-11-12 |
| The German government on Wednesday lowered the number of peacekeepers it can send to Bosnia, a first step toward the withdrawal of its troops. The Cabinet agreed to cut the maximum number of troops Germany can send to Bosnia from 3,000 to 2,400. Only about 850 German troops are currently stationed there. Parliament must approve the change as part of a one-year extension to the deployment. Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung announced last month that he hopes to reduce Germany's contingent in the 6,000-strong European Union force in Bosnia. The Balkan country held successful October elections, underlining its increasing stability since the 1992-95 Bosnian war. EU officials are to meet in December to discuss plans for a withdrawal, which the German Defense Ministry has said could begin in the first half of 2007. Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said Wednesday that no date had been set for a complete withdrawal. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #1 Don't really care about the Germans. The Balkans is one place US forces should never have been and should be quit from as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this is the sort of feelgood, useless misadventures that we can expect to see more of from the Democrat congress. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-11-12 15:38 |