NATO Secretary General makes visit to Kosovo

During the visit, Mr. Scheffer met with Commander KFOR Lieutenant General Xavier de Marnhac, and the members of the Unity Team: President Fatmir Sejdiu, Prime Minister Agim Ceku, the Speaker of Parliament Mr. Koli Berisha, President of Democratic Party of Kosovo Mr. Hashim Thaci and the president's political Advisor Mr. Skender Hyseni, as well as with leaders of the Serb community in Kosovo.

After the meeting, Mr. Scheffer and General Marnhac held a press conference and took questions from the press. A lot of reporters wanted to hear NATO's position about the situation in Kosovo.

"We will support the Troika process until the end, and KFOR will not tolerate any form of violence," said Mr. Scheffer. "If there are people in Kosovo, wherever they come from, and they think or they might think wrongly that inciting violence will be the answer, they're wrong. And KFOR will prove them wrong. And KFOR will do that of course in close cooperation with the Kosovo Police and with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo police."

General Marnhac answered reporters' questions about the number of troops in Kosovo, and specifically about a German reserve battalion that arrived in November.

"KFOR will do what ever is necessary to guarantee maintaining a safe and secure environment in Kosovo and this is the main task," said COMKFOR General Marnhac. "KFOR doesn't reinforce in Kosovo. It is just usual training. Three or four times every year, we prepare our Reserve Force, and now Germany Operation Reserve Force Battalion, assigned to NATO, deploys to Kosovo to participate in a routinely-scheduled operational rehearsal to ensure NATO troops and the Reserve Forces Headquarters are well trained and familiar with the Kosovo environment."