NATO committed to Kosovo, says outgoing chief

French general sees a future role for KFOR

NATO’s role in post-independence Kosovo is to help the new state build up its own defenses with the planned Kosovo Security Force of 2,500 personnel and 800 reservists.

By Ismet Hajdari - Agence France-Presse

PRISTINA – The departing chief of NATO forces in Kosovo, General Xavier Bout de Marnhac, said yesterday that the alliance was committed to staying in the breakaway Serbian province for years to come.

“Kosovo has a significant commitment from NATO. NATO will stay in Kosovo for a while as a guarantee for security,” the French general said in an interview with AFP.

More than 15,000 troops from a NATO-led peacekeeping force dubbed KFOR remain deployed throughout Kosovo, even as a mission of the United Nations downsizes to make way for one from the European Union.

General Marnhac, whose one-year stint in Kosovo ends on Friday, said NATO’s commitment to the Balkan territory depended on the international community and the situation on the ground. “My feeling is that NATO’s commitment to the Balkans ... including Kosovo is for decades probably,” he said. “Will it be the same size? Will it be the same way? Probably not.”

In the aftermath of the country’s February 15 independence declaration, Kosovo saw unrest in its north, where Serbs opposed to the move staged daily protests, some of which were marred by violence. Serbs also set alight Kosovo-Serbia border checkpoints, seized a railway linking the north with Serbia proper, and occupied courtrooms, which led to clashes that left one UN policeman dead.

NATO’s role in post-independence Kosovo is to help the new state build up its own defences with the planned Kosovo Security Force of 2,500 personnel and 800 reservists.

The first stage of this process is expected to be completed by late next year.

In the interview, General Marnhac said the alliance wanted Kosovo “to start training and getting used to the NATO way of doing business.”

Kosovo is likely to be offered NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in the future, where it would remain for some time before moving on to eventually become a “fully integrated member,” said the military chief. “How long this will take is difficult to say. Some years probably,” he added.

NATO’s Partnership for Peace program outlines a framework for practical cooperation with countries aspiring to join NATO and allows them to build up a relationship with the alliance based on their own priorities.

However, General Marnhac said Kosovo faced other crucial challenges, including making itself economically viable and the fight against organized crime and corruption. “Economic development ... is an objective,” said the Frenchman. “But to reach that objective you need two basic conditions: One is a good legal framework, which is responsibility of the government, parliament; and the second key condition is security and stability.

“As KFOR, we are responsible for security and stability and we are committed to it,” he said.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Leaders of Serbia’s Orthodox Church failed yesterday to resolve a rift between conservatives and more moderate voices which erupted over Kosovo and could influence the future direction of the church.

“It’s a real struggle for power inside the Orthodox Church,” one foreign ambassador in Belgrade said yesterday. “It’s the nationalists versus the relative moderates. It’s also about who takes the reins after the patriarch dies.”

Kosovo proclaimed independence in February, angering Serbs who see the region as a core of the Serb state as well as its historic identity. It is home to medieval Orthodox monasteries and churches, although 90 percent of the population in Kosovo today are Albanian, most of whom are Muslim.

The church rift started in March when Bishop Artemije, who oversees the church in Kosovo, banned subordinates from communicating with European Union officials because of their support for Kosovo independence.

Monks in the monastery of Visoki Decani, which dates back to the 14th century, disobeyed the order and continued to talk to EU officials and even hosted Kosovo Albanian politicians.

The tensions culminated last weekend when Bishop Artemije dismissed the head of the monastery Father Teodosije and Father Sava – known as the “Cyber Monk” because of his outreach efforts on the Internet – for disobedience.

The two monks, supported by Belgrade-based church officials, refused to leave the monastery, prompting the leadership, dressed in long black robes, to gather to review the issue yesterday.

Bishop Artemije issued a statement defending his position, saying he wanted to prevent Kosovo’s secession. “Bishop Artemije stands as the sole obstacle to the kidnapping of Kosovo,” said the statement issued by his office.

In a meeting of the church synod, church leaders said “all disputes regarding Decani should end” and left further decisions on the dispute to a later meeting of top church officials.

“It is difficult to say who will win,” said Mirko Djordjevic, a retired university professor who follows church affairs. “It is certainly between conservatives and less conservative forces inside the church.”

The row comes at a time of transition inside the Serbian Orthodox Church. Its leader, Patriarch Pavle, 93, who presided over the church as Serbia under leader Slobodan Milosevic waged war during the 1990s, was relieved of his daily duties in May due to ill health.

The Serbian Orthodox clergy never raised its voice against the killings of non-Serbs throughout 1990s Balkan wars. It often blessed paramilitary commanders before they went to the frontlines in neighboring Croatia and Bosnia.