VOA常速英语2007年-NATO to Stay in Kosovo
时间：2019-02-04 作者：英语课 分类：VOA常速英语2007年（十二月）
Budapest
07 December 2007
The NATO military alliance says it will remain in Kosovo even if leaders of the Serbian province fail to reach an agreement with Serbia. Friday's announcement at a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels comes just days before a December 10 deadline for an end to internationally backed negotiations 1 on the future status of Kosovo. Stefan Bos reports for VOA from Budapest.
NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters that NATO ministers have agreed to keep their KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo at its current strength of just over 16,000 troops.
Appathurai also made clear that NATO will have more soldiers on standby, amid concerns that plans by ethnic 2 Albanian leaders to declare the province independent from Serbia will spark new unrest in the Balkans.
"Allies agree that U.N. Security Council resolution 1244 provides a platform for the continuing presence of NATO forces in Kosovo," said Appathurai. "Second that they commit to maintain the force levels of KFOR at the levels that we have them or to adjust them as necessary. That includes, if necessary, reinforcements."
Friday's agreement on the peacekeepers' future role in Kosovo came after NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop 3 Scheffer said it was important to ensure security for all ethnic groups in the troubled province.
"NATO's continued commitment to the security and stability of the region remains 4 crucial," he said. "And we will act resolutely 5 against anyone who seeks to resort to violence. Regardless of the outcome of the status process, Kosovo will remain and has to remain a place where Kosovar Albanians, Serbs and others must be able live in peace together free from fear and intimidation 6."
The peacekeepers have been in Kosovo since 1999 when NATO forced Serb troops to end a brutal 7 crackdown on the independence seeking ethnic Albanian majority of the province.
International mediators are expected to report to the United Nations on Monday that efforts to reach a compromise between Kosovo's government and Belgrade have failed.
Russia wants further mediation 8 between Serbia, which opposes independence, and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership.
However, Western governments involved in the negotiations say the time has come to settle Kosovo's status.
Analysts 9 expect the United States and most European Union countries to recognize an independent Kosovo. However, Western officials have expressed hopes that Kosovo's leaders will wait with a declaration of independence till late January, to give NATO and the European Union more time to prepare for it.
- negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
- Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
- This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
- The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。
- The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
- The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。
- He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
- The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
- He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
- He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
- The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
- The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。
- She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
- They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
- The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
- The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。