James Kirkup and Alex Spillius have an article on The Telegraph today about David Cameron's appearance in WashDC:
"Mr Cameron fears a diplomatic and military crisis could arise over Kosovo, the province of Serbia which has effectively been a United Nations protectorate since Nato invaded to stop ethnic cleansing by Serb forces in 1999. The ethnic Albanian government of Kosovo is threatening to declare independence from Serbia on Dec 10. Moscow is backing Serbian attempts to block the declaration, while the United States and the European Union are in favour.
" 'Let me make it clear: there could be a new crisis in the Balkans by Christmas,' Mr Cameron will say in a speech to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank.
" 'That is a direct threat to our national security, and we must therefore take decisive action now to prevent it. We need to reinforce the military presence in the region now, by drawing on some of Nato's dedicated operational reserve, to prevent trouble later.'
"Nato members take it in turns to provide a reserve force to back up the alliance's K-For peacekeeping force in Kosovo. The reserve is currently led by a battalion of Italian troops with a German battalion next in line to deploy.
"But from Jan 1, Britain takes on responsibility for providing the 'lead-ready' battalion for the reserve, putting British troops first in line to deploy."
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