NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that stability in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia is in everyone's interest and he sees no reason to believe that there could be any dramatic change in terms of American commitment to the Western military alliance.
He made these comments during a stay in Bratislava, Slovakia, when he was asked in a debate with a student whether he sees the possibility of a resumption of the conflict in Kosovo, as there have been 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 is that 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," Rutte replied, REL reports.
NATO has had a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo since the end of the war. Currently, there are over 4,600 troops from 28 countries deployed in Kosovo as part of KFOR. The largest number of them is from Italy, followed by the United States, Hungary and Turkey.
NATO increased its presence in Kosovo during 2023, following rising tensions in the Serb-majority north.
KFOR is the third security responder in Kosovo, after the Kosovo Police and the European Union rule of law mission, EULEX. This mission is responsible, among other things, for securing the border line between Kosovo and Serbia.
In Slovakia, the leader of the Western military alliance also spoke about the parliamentary elections in Kosovo, which were held on February 9.
"We have recently had elections in Kosovo. The final result is not yet finalized, but it is clear that the main party that currently governs Kosovo may need a coalition. Let's see how this will develop. The formation of coalitions is part of the normal democratic process," the NATO chief said.
According to preliminary results, Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje Movement won 40.80 percent of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) with 22.03 percent of the vote, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 17.63 percent of the vote, the coalition between the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Social Democratic Initiative received 7.46 percent of the vote, and the Serbian List 4.61 percent of the vote.
Based on these results, no party can form the new Government, which requires 61 votes in the 120-seat Assembly.
After the voting process was completed, the NATO chief declared that the alliance would work with whoever would lead Kosovo.
During the event in Slovakia, Rutte also spoke about NATO's concern for the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"Of course, we know that there are some issues that we have to be very careful about in Bosnia as well as in relations in the region. So, step by step, we are really trying to maintain stability and it is important because it is a region that has a history of instability. Fortunately, we have now for many years had a stable stability in that part of Europe, in the Western Balkans, and we have to maintain that," Rutte said. REL (A2 Televizion)
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