EULEX said on Monday that a contingent of European police officers will be deployed to Kosovo as reinforcements in the next few weeks.
“A Reserve Formed Police Unit made up of 92 members of the European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR) from Portugal, France and Italy will temporarily deploy to Kosovo in the coming weeks to reinforce the capacity of the existing EULEX Formed Police Unit (FPU). The Reserve FPU will support EULEX in meeting its tasks, including as Kosovo’s second security responder if necessary, taking into consideration the security environment,” a press release said.
“EULEX’s FPU is Kosovo’s second security responder and is part of a three-layer security responder mechanism where Kosovo Police is the first security responder, EULEX is the second one, and KFOR is the third security responder,” it said and added that the EU mission’s regular FPU contingent consists of 105 Polish police officers stationed in Mitrovica. The Reserve FPU will be based in Kosovo Polje.
“The deployment of the Reserve FPU shows the determination of EULEX to continue to support the stability of Kosovo and contribute to the security of women, men, girls and boys from all communities in Kosovo,” the press release said.