Kosovo to be discussed at NATO summit

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says situation in northern Kosovo and KFOR’s role will be one of the key topics of NATO defense ministers' meeting. The summit will be held in Brussels on October 5-6. Kosovo to be discussed at NATO summit “We will discuss the developments in Kosovo. We have seen how quickly tensions can increase and how important the role of the NATO mission is,” Rasmussen stated in Brussels on Monday, Voice of America has reported. The NATO secretary general stressed that KFOR’s role in Kosovo was to guarantee security for all citizens of Kosovo regardless of their ethnicity, and underlined that the mission would continue to act in the same manner - determined, careful, unbiased and in keeping with its mandate. Commenting on the claims that KFOR soldiers used live ammunition when firing at Serbs at the Jarinje administrative crossing, the NATO official said that this was an act of self-defense, and that soldiers had right to act like that. “Primarily, KFOR acted in self-defense. I have received detailed information and I am completely certain that the troops operated within their mandate,” Rasmussen explained, calling on all parties to restrain from unilateral actions and inflammatory statements. “I urge all parties to put their efforts in the dialogue instead of confrontation, because the interest of all Kosovo inhabitants is to have stability and security, while NATO supports their efforts to join the Euro-Atlantic family,” he stressed. According to him, the soldiers have done so much to ease the tensions in the previous months and keep an unbiased approach in resolving the situation. “According to our mandate, we are there to provide safe conditions and freedom of movement. In that sense, we are helping EULEX, while according to the agreement KFOR is the third line, given that the first one are the Kosovo policemen and the second is EULEX,” Rasmussen said. He also stated that he had conferred with Serbian President Boris Tadic and that he had offered to the Serbian party information about the incident at the Jarinje crossing via ordinary military channels, but that he saw no reason for the continuation of investigation into the conflicts between Serbs and KFOR members in northern Kosovo. Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Beta, file)

Kosovo to be discussed at NATO summit

“We will discuss the developments in Kosovo. We have seen how quickly tensions can increase and how important the role of the NATO mission is,” Rasmussen stated in Brussels on Monday, Voice of America has reported.

The NATO secretary general stressed that KFOR’s role in Kosovo was to guarantee security for all citizens of Kosovo regardless of their ethnicity, and underlined that the mission would continue to act in the same manner - determined, careful, unbiased and in keeping with its mandate.

Commenting on the claims that KFOR soldiers used live ammunition when firing at Serbs at the Jarinje administrative crossing, the NATO official said that this was an act of self-defense, and that soldiers had right to act like that.

“Primarily, KFOR acted in self-defense. I have received detailed information and I am completely certain that the troops operated within their mandate,” Rasmussen explained, calling on all parties to restrain from unilateral actions and inflammatory statements.

“I urge all parties to put their efforts in the dialogue instead of confrontation, because the interest of all Kosovo inhabitants is to have stability and security, while NATO supports their efforts to join the Euro-Atlantic family,” he stressed.

According to him, the soldiers have done so much to ease the tensions in the previous months and keep an unbiased approach in resolving the situation.

“According to our mandate, we are there to provide safe conditions and freedom of movement. In that sense, we are helping EULEX, while according to the agreement KFOR is the third line, given that the first one are the Kosovo policemen and the second is EULEX,” Rasmussen said.

He also stated that he had conferred with Serbian President Boris Tadić and that he had offered to the Serbian party information about the incident at the Jarinje crossing via ordinary military channels, but that he saw no reason for the continuation of investigation into the conflicts between Serbs and KFOR members in northern Kosovo.