NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that stability in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia is in everyone's interest, KosovaPress reported, BTA reported.
He made the statement last night in Bratislava, where he was participating in a student debate, during which he was asked if he saw a possibility of rekindling conflict in Kosovo. The question comes amid allegations that the new US policy could lead to the withdrawal of the country's military from Europe.
The German newspaper „Bild“ wrote on February 19 that some European countries are worried that the US may withdraw its troops from Europe entirely and that “Italy has started preparing for a possible withdrawal of US troops from Kosovo“, KosovaPress notes.
“Let me be perfectly clear, what I understand from the American system is that they (the US) are fully committed to NATO (…). Let's see what happens. There can always be policy changes or small adaptations. But I have no reason to believe that there will be any dramatic decisions“ regarding the US commitment to NATO, Rutte said.
The NATO Secretary General added that the alliance must keep “in focus” the Western Balkans region, "because stability in Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia is in the interest of all of us".
NATO has had a peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) since the end of the last war in Kosovo (1998-1999). Currently, KFOR has over 4,600 troops from 28 countries. Italy has the largest contingent in the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, followed by the United States, Hungary and Turkey.