First published in "Die Zeit" on 2 March 2000

Peace for Kosovo by NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson NATO's most urgent goal in the year 2000 is to bring lasting peace and security to Kosovo. It has now been nine months since KFOR deployed and we have already made real progress. The violence which the Yugoslav Government inflicted on virtually the entire population of Kosovo has ended, and Serb forces have withdrawn. The Kosovo Liberation Army has been disbanded and demilitarised by KFOR, and representative civilian organisations are being put in place to lay the foundations for true democracy. Essential infrastructure is being rebuilt, and the economy is already picking up. And for the first time in ten years, all Kosovar Albanian children - not just the ruling minority - can go to school in their own language. These are major steps forward - but we still have a lot of work to do. First and foremost, we must establish a secure environment that is solid, and self-sustaining. This is truly a difficult task, and the violence in Mitrovica is only the most vivid example. Let me be clear - the NATO-led force in Kosovo will not stand for violence, against our own soldiers or against the citizens of Kosovo. NATO took action last year to counter the violence inflicted by President Milosevic's security forces, and we will take whatever action is necessary stop violence in Kosovo now. No one should doubt our resolve. In this respect, I salute the courage and robust engagement of the German forces. But NATO's determination is not enough, because KFOR cannot succeed alone. To bring lasting peace, security and prosperity to Kosovo, the civilian side of peacebuilding must also succeed - and there are, today, some serious shortfalls in this area. For safety in the streets, police officers are necessary, and until now the international community has simply not provided enough law enforcement personnel. To rebuild the society, the UN mission in Kosovo must have the money to pay the salaries of civil servants, and create civic institutions - and here again, the international community is lagging in providing the necessary funding. The longer it takes to meet these requirements, the harder it will be to meet our goals. NATO is also determined to press ahead with the arrest of persons indicted for war crimes. There can be no peace without justice. I have carried that message very clearly to NATO's Heads of State and Government, as has the KFOR Commander, General Klaus Reinhardt, and the head of the UN Mission in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner. But let me also state very clearly that KFOR will stay in Kosovo for as long as it takes to get the job done -because we cannot afford to do otherwise. Bosnia and Kosovo have made it very clear that the price of indifference can be far higher that that of engagement. This principle - of engagement over indifference - is also guiding our larger vision for the future of South-Eastern Europe. A future in which South-Eastern Europe ceases to be a source of instability and conflict; a future in which this region enjoys stability and prosperity, at peace with itself and the rest of Europe. A future in which even Serbia embraces the values shared across the Euro-Atlantic area -democracy, respect for human rights - and rejoins the European family. The international community is approaching this project in a coordinated and comprehensive way, rather than ad-hoc. We are finally looking at this area as a region - as South Eastern Europe. We will foster democracy and prosperity across the region. And we will foster Euro-Atlantic values across the region - the values of tolerance, of multiculturalism, of peace, and of justice. Of course, NATO is not doing this alone. The European Union and the OSCE will play leadership roles in this project. The EU's Stability Pact, for example, will coordinate and deepen the investment the entire international community is making to build lasting, self-sustaining peace and prosperity. And I am very encouraged by the many steps that the countries of Southern Eastern Europe have themselves taken to deal with their most pressing problems and to make the Stability Pact work. For instance, they have launched a regional Anti-Corruption compact, and taken steps to encourage foreign and local investment. They have created the Stability Business Council to promote much-needed reforms. And they have improved coordination in reducing military budgets and fighting organised crime. These are major steps forward. They demonstrate that regional cooperation can, indeed, pay off. In the last few weeks I have visited NATO's Partner countries in the region and have received the new Croat Prime Minister, Mr. Racan, at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. I have on each occasion delivered the firm message that the more the countries of the region are able to cooperate and introduce serious political, economic and military reforms at home, the easier it will be for the international community to find the necessary resources to help them. Moreover, as Serbia is progressively surrounded by a ring of prospering, integrating countries in the region, the Serb people will be even more aware of the high price that they are paying for the isolation that Milosevic has forced upon them. NATO's efforts in the region are based on the same principle- that regional cooperation can contribute significantly to enhanced security. At last year's Washington Summit, NATO created a consultative forum on security matters on South Eastern Europe. We are also building on the existing mechanisms of the Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council to give substance to our promise of assistance to Partners in the region. We are setting up security cooperation programmes for the countries in the region, and giving our PfP activities and exercises a stronger regional focus. NATO is also making another long-term investment in European stability - through our ongoing enlargement process. Through our Membership Action Plan, NATO will give advice, assistance and practical support to countries aspiring to membership. The relationship between Allies and membership aspirants will become more "interactive", and we will work energetically with them to help them come closer to the Alliance. Finally, to be successful in South-Eastern Europe, the NATO Allies will continue to cooperate closely with Russia. Russian diplomacy was crucial in helping us to end the Kosovo air campaign last June on terms acceptable to the international community. Combined NATO/Russia pressure is now equally acceptable to persuade both Serbs and Albanians to implement fully UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and to persuade Milosevic not to start any new adventures in a region that has already known four wars since 1991. Last week I visited Moscow where I received the encouraging signal that Russia is ready to resume broader cooperation with NATO. We are finally putting our disagreements over the Kosovo air campaign behind us and recognizing that we have a direct interest in working together. We are both - NATO and Russia - much too important for European security to ignore each other. So I hope we can now turn a page and look towards the future. The cooperation between the NATO and Russian forces on the ground in Kosovo has been exemplary since the beginning of KFOR's mission, as it has been also since 1995 in Bosnia. At the same time, the NATO/Russia Permanent Joint Council has met every month since June to exchange views on the situation. With our new quality of cooperation, I hope that we can now go beyond merely exchanging views towards developing the common approach and the common set of priorities that will allow both of us to use our political and diplomatic instruments in the most focussed, consistent way to move the peace process in Kosovo forward. A stable, democratic and integrating South-Eastern Europe is after all in the interests of both NATO and Russia. So we must work together more productively to bring it about. A new era is beginning. An era in which the countries of South-Eastern Europe region grow together; an era in which historical differences are replaced by common goals; an era in which the international community remains engaged as a partner in progress. An era in which this region becomes fully part of the Europe we are building for the 21st century. It is now inevitable that the countries of this region, including in time Serbia as well, will continue to draw closer to each other, and to the rest of the Euro-Atlantic area.