The Austrian Council of Ministers decided on Tuesday to extend its current international peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Bosnia to the end of 2010.
After the decision, Austrian Defense Minister Norbert Darabos noted that currently there are about 1,100 Austrian soldiers around the world participating in the peacekeeping missions.
Austria "makes a real contribution to the maintenance of the humanity and security in the
crisis regions of the world," he said.
He stressed that the decision that the Austrian government extended its terms of international peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Bosnia indicated that the Western Balkans region is still the emphasis of Austrian foreign and security policy.
Darabos also said that Austria has deployed 600 soldiers in Kosovo, which is the largest non
-NATO troop in this region. In Bosnia, Austria also has 190 soldiers and two helicopters stationed there. In addition, the Austrian Council of Ministers also decided on Tuesday to extend Austrian terms of international peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, Congo and the South-Eastern Europe region for another year.