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　　The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says it plans to withdraw about a third of its force in Kosovo by next year because the security situation has improved. The announcement came during a meeting of NATO defense¹ ministers in Brussels.
北大西洋公约组织说，它计划到明年前从科索沃撤离大约三分之一的北约部队，因为当地的安全局势有所改进。北约国家国防部长在布鲁塞尔开会期间公布了这个决定。
The announced troop cut was widely anticipated and will leave about 10,000 NATO forces in Kosovo -- compared to up to 15,000 troops there at any given time. While NATO officials gave no specific timeline for the drawdown, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop² Scheffer said it could take place by next January.
宣布削减驻军的消息是大家早就预期的，这将使北约留在科索沃大约一万军人，而以往在任何情况下都保持在1万5千人。尽管北约官员没有给出具体撤军的时间安排，北约秘书长夏候雅伯说，撤军可能从明年1月开始。
In remarks to reporters, German Defense Minister Franz Joseph Jung suggested that security would be beefed up with the recent deployment³ of a European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, or EULEX, and the expansion of Kosovo's own security force in the coming months.
德国国防部长弗朗茨.约瑟夫.容在对记者的谈话中显示，最近欧盟在科索沃部署的警察和文职使团以及科索沃自己安全部队的壮大都会在未来几个月里强化科索沃的安全。
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia last year, despite strong opposition⁴ from Belgrade and from Moscow.
科索沃不顾来自贝尔格莱德和莫斯科的强烈反对，去年宣布脱离塞尔维亚而独立。
Some analysts⁵ suggest that the NATO troops in Kosovo could be redeployed to Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO forces are battling a strong Taliban insurgency⁶.
一些分析人士认为，北约驻科索沃部队可能被重新部署到阿富汗，那里美国和北约的部队正在和顽强的塔利班激进分子进行战斗。
Afghanistan was also on the agenda during the Brussels meeting. The first of some 21,000 additional American troops are beginning to arrive there ahead of presidential elections in August.
阿富汗问题也列入了布鲁塞尔会议的议事日程。美国增兵两万一千人中的第一批部队在8月份阿富汗总统选举之前已经开始到达当地。
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
美国国防部长盖茨说：
"There is a general feeling I could say that with all these additional troops and all these additional efforts that everybody is making to get to the elections in Afghanistan, to have a momentum⁷, to have a free and fair election and then see over the next months whether we can begin to shift the momentum," Gates said.
“我可以说一般人都感觉到，增加了这些部队，所有人付出的额外努力以使阿富汗大选取得一个势头、进行一次自由公正的选举，然后看看今后几个月我们是否能够开始调动这个势头。”
During the next year, Gates said, it will be critical to show that progress has been made in the war in Afghanistan. Otherwise, he said, patience in the United States and in other NATO countries for the mission could wear thin.
盖茨说，明年展现出阿富汗战争取得进展将是关键问题。他说，否则美国以及其他北约国家对这一使命的耐心就会逐渐丧失。