Berlin, March 1 - NATO has changed side regarding the issue of Kosovo, and is now paving the way for establishing peace together with its new partner Serbia, the Munich daily Suddeutsche Zeitung assesses today.

In a comment on the NATO decision to gradually narrow the ground safety zone on the administrative border between Serbian and Kosovo, the daily assesses that the new democratic authorities in Belgrade have deserved the gesture. On the other side, ethnic Albanian extremists have deserved to be treated hard and without concessions.

Reminding that the zone was set up "in order to protect Kosovo Albanians from possible Serb attacks", the article points to the fact that the self-proclaimed Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac has misused the area to launch undisturbed attacks on Serbs with the aim of uniting that part of southern Serbia with Kosovo by force.

The daily concludes that NATO has clearly presented the attitude of the West, and that ethnic Albanians now have the chance to lay down their arms and join the negotiations before it is too late.