The spokesman's perspective:

Continuing our new series of video commentary, NATO Spokesman James Appathurai gives his personal perspective on recent articles discussing NATO. He invites you to write in with your own comments and opinions, which could be featured in the next installment.

E-mail comments to: press@hq.nato.int

NATO's peacekeeping force will remain in Kosovo after the new country's constitution comes into force next month, the secretary-general said Friday.

Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the 16,000-strong force, known as KFOR, will remain in Kosovo after June 15, when Kosovo's authorities are to take over control of the country from U.N. administrators. A European Union policing mission will be sent in to mentor the fledgling country's leadership.

It is important to keep the NATO Kosovo force (KFOR) in Kosovo as guarantor of stability and non-violence there, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said Friday.

Kalfin said that at a joint news conference after his meeting with the NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer, who paid a one-day visit to Bulgaria.

Peace talks between the Pakistani government and Taliban militants have already led to an increase in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan, NATO said on Sunday.

Faced with a wave of suicide attacks, Pakistan has begun negotiations with Taliban militants who control much of the mountainous region on its side of the border with Afghanistan and thinned out the number of its troops in the area.

Visiting Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday urged Canada's continued support for Ukraine's admission to NATO, ahead of a year-end vote by the transatlantic defense alliance.

In December, NATO's 26 member countries are expected to decide whether to allow Ukraine's application to its Membership Action Plan framework for aspiring members.

European governments sought to bolster the war effort in Afghanistan, with the European Union sending more police trainers and Italy weighing a combat role for the first time.

Responding to criticism from the U.S. and NATO, the EU said it will double the number of police trainers to 400. Italy's new government said it may send some of its 2,300-strong Afghan force to the hard-fought south of the country.

NATO in Afghanistan spoke out against Pakistan's moves to reach peace deals with Taliban militants on its side of the border as new violence left 16 people dead, including a US-led soldier.

NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo say they are not bringing additional troops into the newly independent state.

Colonel Jean Luc Cotard, spokesperson for KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping mission, told Balkan Insight that the Alliance will not boost its troop numbers in the country when Kosovo’s new constitution comes into force on June 15.

Chairman of Senate Mohammadmian Soomro met President NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Jose Lello and Secretary General David Hobbs in Berlin.

The Chairman Senate is leading a parliamentary delegation comprising four Senators and Secretary of Senate of Pakistan in the spring session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly being held in Berlin from May 24 to 27, says a press release issued here Monday. 

Acknowledging Pakistan’s sovereignty over its areas, a senior NATO commander in Afghanistan has expressed the hope for enforcement of any peace agreements in the country’s areas along restive Afghan-Pakistani border.

“Pakistan is a sovereign country. Our interest from NATO’s perspective is that whatever agreements are made will hopefully be enforceable,” U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a thinly veiled warning Monday to Russia to stop opposing Ukraine's NATO membership during a visit by Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko.

Yushchenko, the father of Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004, affirmed his country's aspirations to NATO pose no threat "to any country of world." Russia views the 26-member military alliance as provocatively encroaching on its traditional sphere of influence by courting new members such as Ukraine. Yushchenko also made clear the pursuit of NATO membership is rooted in the almost a century of repression his country endured under the former Soviet Union.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko reaffirmed Monday his government's determination to join NATO, stressing that gaining membership in the alliance is an important step in strengthening Ukraine's sovereignty.

A parliamentary delegation led by Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro highlighted Pakistan’s role in the ‘war against terrorism’ during the four-day NATO Parliamentary Assembly session on terrorism being held in Berlin from May 24 to 27.

The delegation comprising senators Mushahid Hussain Syed, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Sardar Muhammad Latif Khosa and Seemi Yousaf Siddiqui also spoke about Pakistan’s contribution in ensuring stability in the region.