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15. January 2003 - Wednesday |
US seeks military foothold in Yugoslavia
BELGRADE – The US Administration has made a bid to establish military bases in Yugoslavia.
Radio Free Europe reports today that Washington is seeking 99-year leases on Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, the Yugoslav Army radar base on Mt Kopaonik, the military airport near Sjenica and accompanying facilities on the Pester plateau.
According to Radio Free Europe’s sources, the US Administration has told Belgrade it is keen to establish direct cooperation between the US and Yugoslav Army, particularly in Kosovo and South Serbia.
The initial proposal concerned only Camp Bondsteel, which is the headquarters of the US KFOR contingent in Kosovo, but the scheme has now been expanded to include other sites of strategic military significance.
Sources in Brussels say that the US plans to keep army bases in Kosovo and the Balkans, ostensibly to provide support for its European allies in KFOR and SFOR until the situation in the region is
stabilized.
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