The most senior Irish Army officer serving in Kosovo has warned Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea that a new wave of violence could erupt in the Balkan state later this year and that Ireland's 210 Defence Forces personnel may be targeted by armed "radical Albanian elements".
Lt Col Diarmuid Fitzgerald said quick progress on further peace and development talks were needed in Kosovo if the safety of Irish troops, and other forces serving with the international KFOR mission, was to be preserved.
A speedy review by the international community of the potential for Kosovo to begin determining its long term-future through dialogue was critical, he said.
"The unresolved status of the province has the potential to lead to further ethnic violence in the run up to the review during 2005," Lt Col Fitzgerald told Mr O'Dea.
"Radical Albanian elements may make use of this tension to further their political aims. Any delay in the beginning of the future status talks has the potential to generate mass demonstrations against the international community, merging political and social frustrations, and easily degenerate into a new wave of violence all over the province that could lead to the possible targeting of KFOR personnel."
Lt Col Fitzgerald outlined to Mr O'Dea the serious threat to the Irish forces during a briefing at Ireland's Camp Clarke, at Lipjna just outside Pristina, yesterday during the first day of a three-day visit by the Minister and senior Government and Defence Forces officials to Kosovo and Bosnia.
While the current security threat was described as low, this had the potential to radically change, Lt Col Fitzgerald said.
A number of developments which underlined this prognosis had taken place since just before the latest Irish battalion, the 30th Infantry Group KFOR, arrived in Kosovo in April.
The prime minister of Kosovo and former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander Ramush Haradinaj had agreed to go to The Hague to face war crimes charges. An attempt had been made to blow up a car carrying the president of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova. The offices of the fourth largest political party in the country had also been targeted.
Apart from these incidents, the question of whether Ramush Haradinaj would be granted bail pending trial was a great sense of tension.
Mr O'Dea addressed troops at Camp Clarke telling them he was satisfied that all appropriate security measures were in place to ensure the safety of all Defence Forces personnel serving with KFOR, a UN force of 17,000 troops from 30 countries which has been in Kosovo since 1999.
He told them he was aware of the personal sacrifices they were making in helping to maintain stability in the region. Ireland was proud of this sacrifice.