Two decades ago NATO troops entered Kosovo, and that brought back the lost hope for life for all Kosovars.

This morning, Kosovo is making the latest preparations to mark the 20^th anniversary from entrance of the NATO troops into the country, following deportation of the Serbian military, police and paramilitary forces, which committed macabre crimes against local civilian population.

On June 12, 1999, about 50,000 KFOR troops entered Kosovo. This number has, after two decades, been reduced to 3500, as the security situation in Kosovo has improved dramatically. KFOR officials say to Zeri newspaper that, in June 1999 soldiers from 39 different world nations had arrived in Kosovo.

“It is not so easy to show the exact number of soldiers who entered Kosovo on 12 June 1999, but we know that during the first months this number was around 50,000 soldiers, from about 39 nations. Over the last 20 years their number has constantly changed, in line with developments. Today there are about 3,500 troops, with the contribution of 28 nations, 20 of which are part of NATO and 8 are partner countries,” KFOR underlines in its response to Zeri newspaper.