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Press conference by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen held in Pristina, Kosovo

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

11 Jul. 2012

Press conference

by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen held in Pristina, Kosovo

Today I am visiting Kosovo with the ambassadors of all 28 NATO Allies and our partners in KFOR. This visit is a powerful symbol of our commitment to stability and security in this region. It also demonstrates our strong support to the brave and professional servicemen and women of KFOR.

NATO is fully committed to the stability and security of the Western Balkans --nowhere more than in Kosovo. For the past 12 years, the NATO-led mission here has helped preserve a safe and secure environment for all people in Kosovo – firmly, fairly and impartially.

We have already come a long way. Over the last 12 years, we have been able to reduce our force from over 50,000 to just over a tenth of that size. That is a measure of our success.

As the security situation continues to improve, our goal remains to keep on moving towards a smaller, more flexible, deterrent presence.

We will do this in a gradual and careful manner. We will take into account the overall evolution in Kosovo over a sustained period of time. And the growing ability of local institutions to deal with law and order challenges in Kosovo.

Make no mistake. We will make sure that KFOR remains robust and credible. We will make sure that it has the support that it needs, for as long as it needs, under our United Nations mandate. And KFOR and EULEX will continue to work hand in hand, in a complementary fashion.

Because we are committed to the Euro-Atlantic future of this region. And we will continue to work with all our partners to make it a reality. We all know that the future of the Western Balkans lies in building peaceful cooperation, not a return to the conflicts of the past.

Today, we see in Kosovo that political problems remain. They need to be addressed through dialogue. This is why we support the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, facilitated by the European Union.

I call on all leaders, and all communities, across this region to show responsibility and restraint. I call on all leaders and all communities to choose dialogue, not confrontation. Because the people of this region deserve a better future, as part of the Euro-Atlantic community.