"NATO to send strong signal to Serbia"

NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says Serbia will receive "strong Euro-Atlantic integration signal". He was speaking in Brussels yesterday when he said that the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest was the place from which this signal will be sent. "NATO to send strong signal to Serbia" The Alliance also plans to invite a number of other Western Balkans countries to join, it was said. Scheffer continued that "NATO's door was open" and added that NATO has "unfinished business in Europe". "We are convinced that the future of Serbia is in Euro-Atlantic integration, and not in some kind of nationalism," he said, and added that it is the Serbs who will, "eventually", decide on the road they will take. Russian EU ambassador Vladimir Chizov, who took part in the same forum, asked Scheffer what his view on the Kosovo situation was. The NATO chief replied that what he had said previously answered that question. But he also added that "NATO's and KFOR's role there is crystal cear". "KFOR is there based on UN SC Resolution 1244, and when I say there, mister ambassador, I mean the whole of Kosovo. No one can deny KFOR, and my experience from visiting Kosovo in the past few days is that KFOR has the confidence of all of Kosovo's residents," Scheffer said. But the Serbs from the north of the province refused to meet with the NATO chief as he was visiting there this week. As for the recognition of Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence, Scheffer said it was "not a job for NATO". Addressing Chizov, he rejected claims that the situation in Kosovo was problematic. "Even if there are unsettled situations there from time to time, I wonder, who is creating the chaotic situation, who is charging into the courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica," the Dutch diplomat wondered, to warn that "those who do that are making a fundamental mistake and are not working in favor of their own interests". He was referring to a group of Serb judicial workers in the north of the province who are demanding to return to their offices, after being driven out in 1999. The NATO secretary-general also said he hoped that the organization he is heading, just as the UN and the EU, will realize their roles in Kosovo, underlining that KFOR is there based on UN Resolution 1244, "and will remain there until the Security Council decides otherwise". Scheffer announced that Kosovo, the planned U.S. missile defense shield in Europe, and attempts to prevent proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction will all be discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bucharest at the beginning of April. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (AP/Beta)

"NATO to send strong signal to Serbia"

The Alliance also plans to invite a number of other Western Balkans countries to join, it was said.

Scheffer continued that "NATO's door was open" and added that NATO has "unfinished business in Europe".

"We are convinced that the future of Serbia is in Euro-Atlantic integration, and not in some kind of nationalism," he said, and added that it is the Serbs who will, "eventually", decide on the road they will take.

Russian EU ambassador Vladimir Chizov, who took part in the same forum, asked Scheffer what his view on the Kosovo situation was. The NATO chief replied that what he had said previously answered that question.

But he also added that "NATO's and KFOR's role there is crystal cear".

"KFOR is there based on UN SC Resolution 1244, and when I say there, mister ambassador, I mean the whole of Kosovo. No one can deny KFOR, and my experience from visiting Kosovo in the past few days is that KFOR has the confidence of all of Kosovo's residents," Scheffer said.

But the Serbs from the north of the province refused to meet with the NATO chief as he was visiting there this week.

As for the recognition of Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence, Scheffer said it was "not a job for NATO".

Addressing Chizov, he rejected claims that the situation in Kosovo was problematic.

"Even if there are unsettled situations there from time to time, I wonder, who is creating the chaotic situation, who is charging into the courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica," the Dutch diplomat wondered, to warn that "those who do that are making a fundamental mistake and are not working in favor of their own interests".

He was referring to a group of Serb judicial workers in the north of the province who are demanding to return to their offices, after being driven out in 1999.

The NATO secretary-general also said he hoped that the organization he is heading, just as the UN and the EU, will realize their roles in Kosovo, underlining that KFOR is there based on UN Resolution 1244, "and will remain there until the Security Council decides otherwise".

Scheffer announced that Kosovo, the planned U.S. missile defense shield in Europe, and attempts to prevent proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction will all be discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bucharest at the beginning of April.