The Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea, has said this evening that Irish Peacekeepers will have to be deployed in the Balkans for many years to come.
However, Mr O'Dea also said the Irish mission to Liberia in west Africa, which has involved over 400 Irish troops over the past 18 months, will end next year.
Mr O'Dea, who is on a three-day visit to the Balkans, held a meeting this afternoon in Sarajevo with the EU's top official in Bosnia, Lord Paddy Ashdown, the former leading British politician.
Afterwards Mr O'Dea said that even though the threat of violence against Irish peacekeepers is low, ethnic tensions are still simmering in the Balkans and there is a high level of organised crime.
He also said a deputy registrar from Ireland would shortly be appointed to a war crimes chamber of the Bosnian courts.
Mr O'Dea also said that the continued involvement of 270 Irish peacekeepers in the Balkans would not prevent Irish soldiers from taking part in the proposed EU battle groups, though he acknowledged there are practical difficulties about setting up the groups at EU level.
An inter-departmental report about whether the battle groups meet the Irish triple lock requirements for involvement in international military operations will be available by October, Mr O'Dea said.
