U.S. Ambassador in Pristina Christopher Dell said that the U.S. army base Bondsteel near Urosevac will be closed soon due to high costs. In an interview for the portal Balkan Insight, Dell said it was a "myth" that Bondsteel was developed to project US power in the region.
The camp is, in fact, a financial millstone, he said and added that as part of the shift in strategic emphasis, US military assets stationed in the region will be drawn down.
"It [Bondsteel] is a huge liability, a very expensive property, and we have no desire to maintain it any longer than is absolutely necessary for the support of our presence here," said the U.S. ambassador.
"We can even talk about continuing the US role here without Camp Bondsteel," Dell added. He confirmed that Kosovo is moving down the U.S. agenda, as other problem regions take priority.
"You can anticipate that the pressure of events elsewhere, whether it is the continuing situation with Afghanistan or the growing wave of democratic uprisings across the Middle East, simply calls policy-makers' attention towards the more pressing issues of the day," said the U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo.
The fact that Kosovo has moved off the front pages is a sign of its continuing progress and the real stability here, according to him. The Bondsteel base opened in June 1999 and is currently home to over a thousand U.S. soldiers. http://www.emg.rs/en/news/serbia/151325.print.html
