Nato Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday will agree a package of measures to try to prevent the growing crisis in Kosovo spilling over into neighbouring states.

After criticism of its slow response to one Balkan crisis in Bosnia, diplomats say Nato is determined not to be caught out again.

But the emphasis is on preventing a spill-over into neighbouring states of the fighting between Serbs and ethnic Albanians seeking autonomy for Kosovo.

Foreign ministers will approve measures to improve border security in Macedonia and Albania, which could be used as a safe haven for guerrillas fighting in Kosovo.

The package includes various forms of help including providing training and advice as well as a regular Nato presence through planning teams and exercises.

It stops short of direct military intervention although Nato commanders are preparing contingency plans. They have already said protecting Albania's border with neighbouring Serbia could require 23,000 soldiers.

But the Americans are said to want to avoid closing off the possibility of some kind of eventual intervention in Kosovo itself, although not the use of ground forces.