The Government would consider any request for peacekeeping troops arising from the Yugoslav conflict, the Minister for Defence told the Dail. Mr Smith was replying to the Fine Gael spokeswoman on defence, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, who asked if the Minister would envisage coming back into the Dail seeking a resolution to allow Irish troops to be involved in peace enforcement in the area.
He said that the Government had decided in December of last year to allow up to 30 members of the Defence Forces and the Garda to participate in the Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) which was established last year by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It was intended that up to 27 members of the Defence Forces and up to three members of the Garda would be deployed.
Five members of the Defence Forces were deployed at the request of the OSCE and served in key appointments with the mission until they were evacuated to Macedonia in advance of the NATO military action. The deployment of the further 22 military personnel had not been sought by the OSCE.
The mission was being downsized from about 1,400 personnel to a core group of about 200 personnel, he said. "The question of whether the five Irish military personnel will be required by the OSCE to remain as part of this core group has yet to be decided."