Balkans under control, European defense chiefs say

By Mark John

BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) - European defense chiefs said on Thursday NATO and EU troops had the security situation in the Balkans under control, and played down the risk of new violence there after Kosovo's secession from Serbia.

defense ministers met in Slovenia to review security arrangements for the region as hundreds of Serb army veterans threw rocks at Kosovo riot police on the border with Serbia in a renewed protest at the independence move.

Troops from NATO's 17,000-strong KFOR force intervened on Tuesday to secure Kosovo's northern borders after an earlier challenge by ethnic Serbs.

German defense Minister Franz Josef Jung acknowledged that Tuesday's events showed local police in Kosovo could not ensure security by themselves but said there was good cooperation on the ground between NATO and the United Nations personnel.

"In particular thanks to the support of KFOR, things are under control," Jung told reporters at the talks, which took place in the grounds of Brdo castle outside Ljubljana, which late Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito made his summer retreat.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who like Jung visited Kosovo this week, said the "situation as a whole is calm".

"Today is much calmer than yesterday. I think it will evolve in that direction," he told a news conference after the talks.

Ministers discussed a long-term plan to train local Kosovo security forces -- starting with a 3,000-strong civilian emergency Kosovo Protection Corp -- so that one day they could start replacing NATO troops. But Jung and other officials stressed KFOR would remain necessary for some time.