The cabinet approved an increase of 15 staff members for the 220-strong Swisscoy contingent, according to the defence ministry.
As of next January Switzerland will be in charge of a joint regional unit of liaison and monitoring teams in the north of Kosovo for 12 months.
Swisscoy has been stationed in Kosovo since 1999.
In June parliament approved a three-year extension of the mandate of the Swiss peacekeeping force in Kosovo. The troops, which are armed for self-defence, do not join peace enforcement operations.
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Experts divided over Swiss soldiers in Kosovo
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For some experts and politicians there are political and diplomatic reasons why Swisscoy should not remain in the former Serbian province, which proclaimed itself independent on Sunday. Swisscoy, part of the multinational Kosovo force (Kfor), has been present in Kosovo since 1999. The unit’s 220 members are mostly stationed in Suva Reka and their main…
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Desire for political neutrality has not been this high – 94 per cent of respondents are in favour – in the past 20 years of the annual security issues study by the Military Academy of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Swiss optimism about their homeland also peaked at 84 per cent, rising…
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Swiss soldiers have been on the ground in Kosovo for 12 years and the new mandate approved by parliament on Monday includes the possibility of boosting the 220-strong contingent at short notice by 80 additional troops for 12 months. The move has raised timeworn questions about Swiss neutrality, the justification for the mission and how best…
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Swisscoy has been part of the multinational Kfor troops in Kosovo since 1999. The main work of the Swisscoy mission is transport, water treatment and mineclearing. (Pictures: Tomas Wüthrich)
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