March 05, 2007 4:17 PM

Brussels, March 5 (MTI) - Hungary will provide around 30 additional UN peacekeepers in Bosnia from May, Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz said in Brussels on Monday.

The entire unit will consist of around 140 personnel and it will reach its full operational capacity by mid-May, said Goncz, who is attending the EU foreign ministers meeting.

European Union defence ministers said at an informal meeting last week that they were satisfied with the development of security in Bosnia-Herzegovina and mentioned that the EU would gradually withdraw soldiers from the former Yugoslav republic.

Press reports published in Brussels on Monday said that EU presence may drop from 6,000 to around 2,500 by this year's end.

Hungary has repeatedly expressed that it considered the security of the region a priority of its foreign policy.

Hungarian News Agency