NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said here Friday that the military bloc's continued commitment to stability and peace in Kosovo will remain "crucial" and NATO "will act resolutely against those who seek resort to violence in the region."
"Regardless of the outcome of the status process, Kosovo will remain and has to be a place where Kosovo Albanians, Serbs and others will live together in peace, free from fear and free from intimidation, and we are determined to play our part," said the NATO chief at his opening address at the bloc's foreign ministers' meeting.
The meeting came just three days before the Dec. 10 deadline for the mediating troika of the European Union, Russia and the United States reports to the UN Secretary General on the progress concerning negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo on the latter's final status. Kosovo is seeking independence from Serbia.
The ministers are expected to express their unity on Kosovo and confirm that the 26-member military alliance will keep its 16,000 troops in the breakaway Serb province even if no deal was struck on Kosovo's status before next Monday.
Besides Kosovo, Afghanistan and the consequences of Russia's withdrawal from the Treaty on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), and the enlargement process of NATO and other topics relevant for the agenda of the bloc's 2008 Bucharest summit will dominate the one-day event.
Albania, Croatia and Macedonia are on the list of candidates to join NATO, but it remains unclear, which will get the invitation to join it at the bloc's Bucharest summit next April.
The meeting of NATO foreign ministers started in the morning, and will be followed by the session of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), when the NATO ministers will discuss with their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov the CFE treaty, and Kosovo, whose independence is firmly opposed by Russia.
The NRC meeting was the last gathering between the two parties before a Russian law on suspending participation in the CFE treaty takes effect on Dec. 12.
"NATO-Russia relations are an important element of security and stability in Europe and beyond. That is why our NATO-Russia Council will be of particular significance," said de Hoop Scheffer.
The meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the most serious issues that had dominated the political dialogue between the two sides, notably the CFE treaty, missile defense and Kosovo, he added.
The NRC session will also discuss anti-terrorism, and cooperative projects undertaken within the framework of the NRC, including the NRC Pilot Project on Counter-Narcotics Training of Afghan and Central Asian Personnel and the Russian participation in the naval counter-terrorism Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean Sea.
The NATO ministers will then join their counterparts from the countries of the Mediterranean Dialogue for a working luncheon.
Finally, the NATO ministers will attend the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC) along with a deputy foreign minister from Ukraine.
The NUC session will discuss the current political situation in Ukraine and ways to enhance cooperation between the two sides, and issues related to the Intensified Dialogue on Ukraine's NATO membership aspirations and relevant reforms, according to de Hoop Scheffer.
Source: Xinhua
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