Levi, 03/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting in Levi, Finland, on 2 October, European Union defence ministers examined the possibility of reducing the number of European troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina. General John Reith, Commander of the EU operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Operation Althea, also attended. Gathering in informal session, the ministers did not take any decisions at this stage. “Our general assessment today is that the plan that General Reith presented to us is valid and that we can go forward according to this plan”, Finnish Defence Minister Seppo Kääriaïnen, who was chairing the meeting, told the press. Any scaling down of European troops will, however, depend on how the situation develops in Bosnia, where general elections were held on 1 October, and in Kosovo, whose final status is being negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations. General Reith is said to have suggested that European numbers be reduced in the medium term from the current 6,000 to 1,500. French Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, on the other hand, sounded a note of caution against hasty departure from Bosnia, a region that has still not been stabilised. EU defence minsters will be addressing this question again at their formal meeting in November, on the fringe of the EU foreign affairs' meeting. (dt)