A withdrawal of US troops from Bosnia and Kosovo would be "a huge error," outgoing Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in an interview televised here Sunday.

"I think it would be a huge error for us to kind of say 'OK, we're finished with this'," the chief US diplomat said in an interview with ABC television, recorded Friday.

She noted that in 1993, President Bill Clinton had inherited from former president George Bush, father of the president-elect, the goal of unifying Europe, and "the piece that was really missing was the Balkans."

"And as it turns out, the use of force in the Balkans made a difference. America made a difference," she said of US engagement in the region and in particular the US-led bombing campaign over Kosovo in early 1999.

"I would hope very much that the next administration would understand that this is a huge victory for Europe and therefore for us and that it may need a sustained support. These stories don't happen in four-year terms."

Albright refuted frequent claims by opponents of US engagement abroad that European countries don't take enough responsibility in the Balkans.

"There are those who feel that the Europeans have not done their share. They have. They are there with larger numbers of forces and they are really helping on the economic reconstruction," she said.

Albright said she had discussed the subject of US engagement in the Balkans with Bush's secretary of state designate, Colin Powell, who is known for his adamant opposition to US military involvement abroad except under the most compelling circumstances.

The incoming Republicans "have said that they would consult with our allies before doing anything rash and I would hope that they would do that," Albright said.

John Hulsman, described as a top advisor to Bush, was quoted in the Sunday Times of London as saying that Bush, who takes the helm in 21 days, would start reducing the numbers of US troops in the Balkans "as soon as he arrives" and that within four years "there will be no American ground troops in the Balkans."

Incoming US national security advisory Condoleezza Rice said, in an interview with the New York Times in October, that a Bush administration would withdraw US forces from the Balkans.