Scheffer: Don’t test NATO

Scheffer: Don’t test NATO

U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari is due on Friday to go to Belgrade and Priština to present long-awaited proposals expected to grant virtual independence to the majority Albanian province.

It remains uncertain, however, if any of the high state officials in Belgrade will meet with Ahtisaari on February 2.

KFOR has sought to keep the peace in Kosovo for eight years since the alliance drove out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing, and is geared up for new tensions triggered by the Ahtisaari report.

"KFOR is prepared for all eventualities," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters after a meeting with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski.

"Let nobody in Kosovo have any illusions that they should test KFOR ... That goes for the majority and the minority," he said, referring to tense relations between the U.N.-administered province's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority and local Serbs.

NATO forces were caught by surprise in 2004 when 19 people were killed during a bout of rioting by ethnic Albanian mobs who burned Serb homes and U.N. vehicles.

Alliance diplomats fear the political limbo after last week's inconclusive Serb elections could delay a settlement on Kosovo, setting off tensions just as the United Nations proceeds with a delicate handover of authority to the European Union.

"The NATO allies support the proposals President Ahtisaari is going to present to the parties on February 2," said de Hoop Scheffer.

"We support his timelines. And I think it is important that all nations and countries in the region do the same."

The EU is preparing to take over responsibility for policing the province and wants to launch a rule of law mission of up to 1,500 personnel by mid-year -- always assuming Kosovo's status is settled by a U.N. resolution by then.

Ceku opposed to protests

Kosovo prime minister Agim Ceku has called on Kosovo residents to preserve the peace and refrain from reacting to provocation ahead of UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s Friday visit.

“I call on you to preserve the unity and refuse to be victimised by irresponsible groups and individuals who wish to spark conflict with a process that has never been so favorable for us”, Ceku said in his radio address.

Ceku stressed that any disturbance at this time would be “fatal for Kosovo”.

“All the challenges of refusal and the blocking of the status process finalization that come from others are less dangerous that the possible scenario of a deteriorated security situation in Kosovo”, Ceku said.

Former student leader Albin Kurti’s Self-Determination movement has announced mass demonstrations for February 10, protesting Ahtisaari’s status proposal.