"No date for NATO Kosovo withdrawal"

NATO has not set a date for withdrawal from Kosovo, NATO officials stated. Director of Policy Planning in the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General Jamie Shea has stated that NATO has not set a date for complete withdrawal from Kosovo and that “it all depends on the situation”. "No date for NATO Kosovo withdrawal" He addressed participants of an international conference in Belgrade titled “Serbia, Western Balkans and NATO towards 2020: Lessons learned and lessons to be learned” via video link. Shea, who was NATO spokesman in 1999, said that NATO would continue training Kosovo security forces “so they would protect all peoples in Kosovo” and added that those forces should be multiethnic. When asked about Macedonia’s invitation to join NATO, the NATO official said that “it was said two years ago at a summit in Bucharest that Macedonia was ready for NATO as soon as it solved the name dispute with Greece”. “When the dispute, that mediator Matthew Nimitz is working on, is solved the Alliance ambassador will keep it in mind and pass the invitation,” he said and added that no special meeting regarding Macedonia’s issue would be held. According to him, NATO is sending a message to the Western Balkans that its door is open and that it is in nobody’s interest to block Macedonia. Speaking about NATO’s new strategic concept, Shea stressed the need for even better relations with the EU. “Relations between NATO and the EU are good and they can be even better. We are on the same operational scene, such as Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo and we have the same challenges such as fight against terrorism,” he explained and advocated even better coordination between NATO and civilian organizations. The two-day international conference is organized by Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS) and NGO Fractal.

"No date for NATO Kosovo withdrawal"

He addressed participants of an international conference in Belgrade titled “Serbia, Western Balkans and NATO towards 2020: Lessons learned and lessons to be learned” via video link.

Shea, who was NATO spokesman in 1999, said that NATO would continue training Kosovo security forces “so they would protect all peoples in Kosovo” and added that those forces should be multiethnic.

When asked about Macedonia’s invitation to join NATO, the NATO official said that “it was said two years ago at a summit in Bucharest that Macedonia was ready for NATO as soon as it solved the name dispute with Greece”.

“When the dispute, that mediator Matthew Nimitz is working on, is solved the Alliance ambassador will keep it in mind and pass the invitation,” he said and added that no special meeting regarding Macedonia’s issue would be held.

According to him, NATO is sending a message to the Western Balkans that its door is open and that it is in nobody’s interest to block Macedonia.

Speaking about NATO’s new strategic concept, Shea stressed the need for even better relations with the EU.

“Relations between NATO and the EU are good and they can be even better. We are on the same operational scene, such as Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo and we have the same challenges such as fight against terrorism,” he explained and advocated even better coordination between NATO and civilian organizations.

The two-day international conference is organized by Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS) and NGO Fractal.