The Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, attended a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers on 26 January at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. She said on her arrival, "I am pleased to be here at NATO to talk about the affairs of Afghanistan and also of Kosovo. In Afghanistan we are making real progress. But we recognise there is a lot more to do. There are opportunities and challenges but what we have to do is get a comprehensive approach that means we can tackle all those different problems, including corruption and the opium trade. And in Kosovo of course what we need is to show firm support for the UN settlement process so that we can move on to circumstances of greater security."

 

At the meeting Ministers, including from non-NATO countries contributing to the operation in Afghanistan, and representatives from the UN, EU and the World Bank, confirmed their commitment to Afghanistan and called for a comprehensive approach to increase co-ordination between military and civilian actors. The US announced a significant increase in development aid and an extension to the deployment of some 3000 troops in Afghanistan.

 

On Kosovo, Ministers re-stated NATO's full support for the UN-led process to resolve Kosovo's final status and the efforts of the UN envoy, Martti Ahtisaari. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, NATO's Secretary General, Mr De Hoop Scheffer said "NATO-KFOR will play its part through and beyond the status process", adding that Ministers had agreed that clarity on Kosovo's status should be reached as soon as possible.