"KFOR should stick to mission"

Russia and Spain are opposed to KFOR training the Kosovo security forces, and believe KFOR should stick to its U.N. mission, says Lieutenant Gen. Zdravko Ponos. Talking to reporters after a meeting yesterday with his counterparts from Russia and Spain—Generals Yuri Baluyevski and Sanz Roldan—in Brussels, Ponos stressed that regardless of what the transitional government in Pristina said or announced, it did not change the current situation. "KFOR should stick to mission" At the end of a meeting between NATO and Partnership for Peace program military chiefs, Ponos stressed that military organizations, including the Serbian military and KFOR, had a responsibility to closely monitor the security situation. "Political declarations, provided they have no security-related repercussions, are just an added reason for political and legal action on Serbia's part... and we are already taking legal action, which includes my activities in NATO," he pointed out. Ponos stressed that he had told NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer that Belgrade considered the plan to allow KFOR to train Kosovo security personnel a violation of its mission as designated by the UN. Zdravko Ponos (FoNet, archive)

"KFOR should stick to mission"

At the end of a meeting between NATO and Partnership for Peace program military chiefs, Ponoš stressed that military organizations, including the Serbian military and KFOR, had a responsibility to closely monitor the security situation.

"Political declarations, provided they have no security-related repercussions, are just an added reason for political and legal action on Serbia's part... and we are already taking legal action, which includes my activities in NATO," he pointed out.

Ponoš stressed that he had told NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer that Belgrade considered the plan to allow KFOR to train Kosovo security personnel a violation of its mission as designated by the UN.