By Mark Lowen
BBC News, Pristina

Nato’s new secretary general arrives in Kosovo shortly on his second visit to a Nato mission since being appointed.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet Kosovo’s political leaders, as well as senior members of the Nato force here.

The former Danish prime minister’s message is likely to be one of reassurance: that the alliance is still committed to the task in hand.

But the end is in sight for this Nato peacekeeping mission, which began in 1999, in what was former Yugoslavia.

Mr Rasmussen announced in his recent inaugural speech that, by the end of his five-year mandate, Nato troops stationed in Kosovo would be reduced to a "small reaction force" or withdrawn altogether.

Swift action

Fifty thousand Nato troops entered Kosovo in 1999 after an intensive 78-day air campaign against the then Yugoslav government of Slobodan Milosevic.

The bombing was intended to stop a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Kosovo at the time. The crisis resulted in hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians fleeing their homes as Serb forces attempted to reimpose Yugoslav rule.

Ethnic Albanian separatists had launched reprisal attacks against the Serbs. The alliance decided it required swift action.

Today, just under 1,400 troops remain. But Kosovo is now in a transitional phase – moving away from dependence on international peacekeepers, instead training up its own structures, capable of filling Nato’s place.

The recently-formed Kosovo Security Force will comprise 2,500 lightly-armed soldiers by next year. They will work alongside the Kosovan Police Force and the European Union rule of law mission – Eulex – to maintain security as Nato draws down.

Ethnic tensions

Out on Nato patrol in the northern city of Mitrovica, it is clear the force feels ready to start pulling back.

The area is ethnically mixed, with many parts dominated by Serbs vehemently opposed to Kosovan independence.

"It is peaceful for now, but we can have trouble from one moment to the next"

Daradan
Mitrovica resident

The city has been a frequent flashpoint over the years and there are still isolated clashes. But the situation has calmed significantly.

As we walked past a tower block housing Serbs and Albanians together, Gen Pierre Sandrin struggled to remember a time when Nato troops had had to actively intervene in a dispute over the last few months.

"There was a quarrel about a month ago, when the police had to call for our back-up," he said.

"But very soon after we arrived, it was defused. Things are pretty peaceful now."

In the Serb enclaves north of the Ibar river, which divides Mitrovica, the goal of a multi-ethnic Kosovo still seems far away.

Serbian flags flutter above doorways and the graffiti bears the Serbian national slogan: "Only unity saves the Serbs".

Jovica, an ethnic Serb who runs a small wooden roadside kiosk selling cigarettes and snacks, told me life remains tense and that he feels in constant danger of being evicted by Albanian returnees.

I asked him what he thought about the continued Nato presence.

"I feel much safer with them here," he said. "If they leave, it will be very hard."

Peaceful – for now

Albanians in general have a more positive view of Nato’s planned withdrawal. For them, it would be a recognition of Kosovo’s ability to stand on its own two feet.

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But across the unofficial dividing line between communities in the Mitrovica neighourhood of Bosnia Mahalla, Daradan, an Albanian market-seller, warns that the situation is still volatile and that conflict can flare up at any time.

"This is the most dangerous street in the whole of Kosovo," he said.

"It is peaceful for now, but we can have trouble from one moment to the next."

It has taken time for Kosovans to accept the Nato mission here.

Troops have had to rebuild the trust of the local population after they were accused of failing to curb serious nationwide rioting in 2004 that left 19 Serbs dead.

But they are now seen as an important part of the growing stability of Kosovo and people feel apprehensive about what life will be like after they have gone.

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