NATO insists it has mandate to remain in Kosovo

VILNIUS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - NATO troops have the mandate to remain in Kosovo and intervene to maintain security there after an expected declaration of independence, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday.

Alliance defence ministers agreed at talks in Lithuania that existing U.N. Security Council resolution 1244 would continue to justify NATO's presence in Kosovo if the ethnic Albanian majority proclaims independence, expected within weeks.

Western powers have indicated they will back such a move.

"Yes, 1244 is the basis and will remain the basis for the NATO presence," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a news conference.

Russia, Serbia's biggest ally on Kosovo, said on Wednesday that NATO would be in breach of its U.N. mandate if, for example, it intervened to put down protests by the territory's Serb minority against a declaration of independence.

NATO has not clarified how it would respond to any Serb attempts to defy ethnic Albanian-dominated authorities.

A territory of some two million people, Kosovo has been under United Nations supervision since NATO bombing in 1999 drove out Serb forces to end repression of ethnic Albanians.

KFOR has some 17,000 troops based around the province. Its commanders have said they are prepared to deal with any outbreak of violence.

De Hoop Scheffer also indicated NATO would have a role in training a future Kosovo security force, but he said any such move would have to wait until its status had been resolved.

"There is a role for NATO ... NATO cetainly will have responsibilities after we have status for Kosovo," he said.

(Reporting by Mark John and Andrew Gray; Editing by Michael Winfrey)