You may be wondering why a local journalist from York spent the day in the hills of northern Kosovo with the British army.

Well, when my Editor told me about this opportunity, I asked the same question: why?

But some months after that first conversation – I am here in Kosovo.

Many will remember the troubled past associated with this region. However, since 1999, the conflict has passed – but the military’s presence here has not.

The ABL, with Serbia behind the concrete walls (Image: Harry Booth)

NATO established the Kosovo Force, commonly known as KFOR. A collective effort comprised of – to name a few – the Americans, Italians, Turks and Danes. While the Americans are here to be the men on the ground, the Italians to assist internal policing, the role of the British is slightly different.

At the north of the country is the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL), which symbolises where NATO and KFOR ends, and Serbia starts.

And that’s where the Brits come in. The 1st Royal Yorkshire Regiment – with whom I’m staying – is merely a “third response”.

Sgt Emmett briefing before a patrol (Image: Harry Booth)

That means if they caught someone breaking the law at the ABL; smugglers, criminal gangs, stolen cars – they can’t do anything, they can only advise the Kosovo Police (KP).

So why are they here? Why am I here to follow them?

Well, for the Yorkshire Regiment, they’re here to show that they can be here if needed. Whilst a peaceful region, Kosovo is anticipating the first democratic election in its history next February.

Despite there being no expectations of trouble, the troops from Catterick Garrison have shown both the Kosovo people, and NATO, that they can be trusted to show up if asked.

Replacing a flat tire (Image: Harry Booth)

Their secondary, and more immediate purpose, is to help the KP tackle the country’s ever-present criminal underbelly.

And that brings us back to why I’m here. On day one of my visit, I travelled north to the ABL from Camp Nothing Hill with the regiment’s Burma Company. One bumpy journey and a flat tyre later, and we had arrived.

A routine patrol saw us walk from an offroad track – to a woodland – and then to a rural village.

Approaching the "smuggler" huts (Image: Harry Booth)

This woodland was significant, it held wooden huts previously identified as being used by cross-border smugglers. Shortly after we arrived at the huts, an exasperated man driving a car with a Serbian number plate came and said ‘hello’.

He told us he was a German tourist.

When we finished our patrol, we found out that he told the other party with us that he was Swiss.

Patrolling the rural village (Image: Harry Booth)

Anyway, we trekked on, to a quaint Kosovan village in the hills.

The German tourist’s car was already there, he’d rushed ahead to talk to the locals, before disappearing out of sight. Was he warning them? Why?

That brief interaction made me realise the underlying tension that remains in this 25-year peaceful region. Soldiers told me they had to interact with a constant stream of suspicious characters, often catching them in the act of smuggling.

That is one of the reasons why the Yorkshire Regiment was so keen to prove their worth to NATO and the Kosovan people.