NATO chief rules out Kosovo partition

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-24 13:47

PRISTINA -- NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Monday rejected the prospect of a divided Kosovo, saying "any form of partition is not an option."

Scheffer, who paid a one-day visit to Kosovo, told a press conference that Kosovo's partition along ethnic lines was never an option, and the partition was out of the question.

Scheffer said NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Kosovo (KFOR) would continue to work in line with its powers defined by the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999.

He said the task of 16,000-strong KFOR is to ensure peace and security and to protect both majority and minority communities.

Kosovo, which is dominated by ethnic Albanians, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia with Western backing on Feb. 17. It has since won recognition from 43 countries, including the United States and most EU countries. However, Serbia and some 120,000 Kosovo Serbs rejected Kosovo's independence as illegal under international law.

NATO has nothing to do with recognizing Kosovo independence, some of its members did so and others did not. What is important is that NATO members are involved in KFOR and will remain in Kosovo, Scheffer said.

Scheffer said one of next NATO engagement in Kosovo was to establish a lightly armed Security Force with 2,500 members, as proposed by UN Special envoy for Kosovo talks Martti Ahtisaari.

"It will be a multiethnic force under KFOR mandate," said Scheffer, adding that it is in the interest of all Kosovars to have a Security Force.

Recently, Scheffer was in New York to discuss with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about NATO's future role in Kosovo.

He discussed this role Monday in Pristina with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

Scheffer's visit was the first high-level one since Kosovo's constitution came into force on June 15, which gives the Kosovo government much authority after nine years of UN governance.

Kosovo's ethnic Serbs have said they would form their own parliament in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica on June 28 following the May 11 Serbian local elections as a countermeasure to the Kosovo constitution, raising the fears of further division between the majority Albanians and minority Serbs.