SOFIA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- 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.

    "At the same time, it is important that the Kosovo institutions, the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) perform their functions so as to guarantee stability in Kosovo with common efforts in a maximally coordinated way," Kalfin said.

    Kalfin and Scheffer also discussed the NATO operation in Afghanistan, the summit of the alliance in Bucharest, the enlargement of the organization, the relations between NATO and Russia and the deployment of air defense assets in Europe.

    Kalfin pointed to the big stride several countries in the Western Balkans made towards membership of the alliance. He expressed hope that the problems with inviting Macedonia to membership would be resolved quickly, with the politicians of bothsides showing enough wisdom.

    The NATO secretary general said he hoped that NATO would invite three countries instead of two to join it.

    "I hope that there will be an invitation to Skopje soon, after the problem with the country's name is solved," Scheffer said.

    At the same day, Scheffer also met Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.