NATO support Kosovo Security Force “in the framework of their original mission and mandate, but does not decide on the structure, mandate and mission of these forces, because that is within the competence of local Kosovo institutions”. That is how one NATO official responded to a question whether NATO supports the decision of the authorities in Pristina that Kosovo Security Force (KSF) convert in the army – “Kosovo armed forces”. We should also bear in mind that the senior NATO officials clearly stated that according to the KSB mandate and UN Resolution 1244, KSF can only exist as lightly armed forces, primarily for civilian protection.
An official at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance, who wished to remain anonymous, said that NATO “the original mandate and KSB mission supports through recently established NATO Advisory and Liaison Team.”
We asked our source from NATO to comment on the statement of Serbian Prime Minister, Ivica Dacic. PM stated that Serbian government “sought assurances from NATO and KFOR, if once the army will be formed, it should not come at the north of Kosovo without the permission of KFOR”, stressing that he hopes that the guarantees given by NATO and KFOR will be implemented in practice, if there is necessity.
An official at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Alliance replied that “Kosovo authorities are committed, that mission of the Kosovo Security Forces in northern Kosovo could be carried out only with the prior consent of the commander of KFOR. That was determined by the letter that Hashim Thaci sent in April 2013 to the NATO Secretary (Anders Fogh Rasmussen), and the agreement is in force.”
In today’s statement on transferring KSF in Kosovo army Thaci said that “accordingly, KSF will change mission, task, composition and size.”
Dacic stressed that announced formation of the Kosovo army is not part of the Brussels agreement. Beta news agency requested comment from the cabinet of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, but didn’t receive any response.
When asked to explain his position on the fact that UN resolution 1244 is still in force and that is why Kosovo cannot have an army, the former commander of KFOR, Folker Halbauer said for the German radio station Deutsche Welle that “although by ending of supervised independence, from the perspective of Kosovo a decisive change happened, for me, as KFOR commander the situation has not changed, because we all live in different worlds.”
“There are at least two worlds. One world is the UN Resolution 1244 (determined that Kosovo cannot have an army), in which lives KFOR and performs its tasks, in order to further impartially and without prejudice support the positive development in Kosovo,” said the German general. The other world is a reality, which we cannot ignore: that is independence of Kosovo.”
Former commander of KFOR explained that “for many years, KFOR supports the Kosovo Security Force as an organization that takes care of security and order in Kosovo and which assist in humanitarian actions, clearing mines, or acting in disastrous situations.”
