The lower house of the German parliament voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favour of participation by up to 600 German troops in a new three-month NATO mission in Macedonia named "Amber Fox", which will be under German command.
Deputies voted by 528 in favour with 40 against and 10 abstentions.
The new mission follows on from NATO's operation to collect ethnic Albanian rebel arms, "Essential Harvest", which had a 30-day mandate that expired Wednesday.
"Amber Fox" is to last for up to three months, with the aim of providing protection for international observers monitoring a peace agreement in Macedonia.
Meanwhile, Macedonia's ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army has announced it had disbanded in accordance with a Western-backed peace plan.
The guerrilla group launched an armed campaign at the start of the year for greater rights for Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority, leading to an international effort to avert civil war in the Balkan country.