NATO chief Mark Rutte expected to visit Kosovo on March 11

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is expected to visit Kosovo on March 11 for the first time since taking office, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has learned from diplomatic sources.

A day earlier, the NATO chief will visit Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the visit to Kosovo, Rutte is expected to be accompanied by the ambassadors of NATO member states that are members of the North Atlantic Council.

Meanwhile, NATO has not yet officially announced this visit.

Mark Rutte himself had announced the visit to Kosovo during March in a debate he had earlier held in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Rutte also had a telephone conversation with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Monday.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said a few days ago that stability in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia is in everyone's interest and that he sees no reason to believe that there could be any dramatic change in American commitment to NATO. He said this during a stay in Bratislava, Slovakia, when asked in a debate by students whether he sees a possibility of a resumption of the conflict in Kosovo, as there are rumors that the new American policy could lead to their military withdrawal.

 “Let me be perfectly clear. From what I understand from the American system, they are fully committed to NATO and the current commitments. But let’s see what happens. We can always have policy changes or small adaptations that can happen. The Slovaks, the Dutch and others are doing that. But I have no reason to believe that there will be dramatic decisions. And, in general, in the Western Balkans, we have to make sure that we keep this region in focus, because stability in Kosovo, stability in Bosnia and stability in Serbia is in the interest of all of us,” he replied.

After the elections in Kosovo, Rutte also invited the continuation of the democratic process, part of which is the formation of coalitions.

A NATO delegation led by the Secretary General will also visit the KFOR mission, which is led by NATO.

There are currently around 4,700 soldiers in this mission. Of these, Italy has the largest contingent with 1,250 members, as it also has the command, while the United States of America has around 600 members in this mission./ REL (A2 Televizion)