Sixty out of the total 116 soldiers boarded the planes.
The rest will be flown on Sunday. The unit is returning to the Balkans after a two-month pause, Dvorak CzechRep to again send a reserve company to Kosovo ...
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Separatists Damper EU Support for Independent Kosovo ... said. In March, they were called in at the request of the multi-national peace-keeping forces to maintain security after Kosovo's independence was declared. "The preparations were the same as previously. We were given five days. We packed our personal things and checked all the material. The equipment is prepared at the Czech base in Kosovo," Dvorak said. "Maintaining a calm and secure situation in Kosovo will be our main task," Dvorak said. The mission includes eight women. Dvorak said they would be mainly used to check persons. "Women and children can only be checked by female soldiers," he added. The reserve unit stays in the Czech Republic and, if need be, it is ready to start fulfilling the required tasks within five days. The Czech Republic sent the first reinforcement to Kosovo last November when parliamentary and local elections were held there. At present, the Czech Republic has over 400 soldiers in Kosovo. They have been at the base in Sajkovac in northeastern Kosovo within the KFOR mission since 1999. The Czech Republic has not recognised its independence, although its Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has indicated it will do so. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, against its will, on February 17, and more than 30 countries have recognised it since then. There are large EU countries among them, except for Spain. The Balkan states such as Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia and Serbia's traditional ally Greece have not yet joined the support for the independent Kosovo. Russia is also against recognition of Kosovo's independence. It believes that Kosovo's declaration of independence was absolutely at variance with international law.
(Ceske Noviny)
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