People are well clothed and nobody looks hungry. Newspaper stands carry uncensored local newspapers, as well as international publications. Radio stations are free to broadcast what people want to hear. Many Kosovars are enjoying freedoms denied them for years. Mandated by the United Nations with prime responsibility for preventing renewed hostilities, securing the province and ensuring public safety, KFOR was also tasked to support the lead civilian agencies in the areas of humanitarian relief and reconstruction, as well as the work to rebuild Kosovo s civil society.
Frequent exercises help maintain the troops readiness for a wide range of contingencies.
It is intended to be a multiethnic organisation and Bosniacs, Roma and Turks have joined, but no Serbs as yet. This is the first time a guerrilla army has been disbanded and its weapons decommissioned in this way. But KFOR remains vigilant to the risk of renewed hostilities, keeping a particularly watchful eye on the dan-gerous situation building up due to rebel Albanian insurgency by the Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja in southern Serbia. One priority has been to clear mines, which are a danger to men, women and children whatever their ethnic origins. But the main challenge has been keeping a lid on ethnic tensions and tackling crime.