The Kosovo Assembly is expected to discuss amendments related to the establishment of the Kosovo Armed Forces (KAF) next Monday. The decision by the Assembly’s chairmanship came after Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said that if Kosovo does not form its army in the next couple of days, “it will miss out on a historical opportunity for several years”.
Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi said it was not up to the assembly’s chairmanship to reach agreements on FAK or reserved seats for minority communities. “We are not the ones who reach agreements; we have received the request to send the amendments to the assembly. We will do so and the Assembly will then decide if they want to vote on this,” Krasniqi said.
LDK parliamentary group chief, Ismet Beqiri, said his party would vote in favor of the establishment of the Armed Forces, but added that they are against reserved seats. “We will vote in favor of the establishment of FAK, because this transformation is in the country’s interest. I don’t know who is raising this dilemma. What is certain is that the LDK will under no circumstance vote on reserved seats,” Beqiri added.
AAK parliamentary group chief, Ardian Gjini, told reporters after the meeting that two or three more Serb MPs are a reasonable price to pave way to the establishment of Armed Forces. “Some parties believe this cost is too high. I think their calculations are wrong. We think it is not a very high price to have two-three more Serb MPs in exchange for the future army of Kosovo. We will never have the Armes Forces if we don’t reach a compromise now,” Gjini said.
Visar Ymeri, head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, said the conditions of minority MPs are unacceptable and unprincipled. “The Vetevendosje Movement believes these are two separate issues. We should not accept such conditioning,” he said.
PDK parliamentary group chief, Adem Grabovci, said he was confident that the assembly will give the green light to the establishment of Armed Forces. “The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has met its obligations in Brussels, Washington and New York, and we have strong support from our allies. The issue is now in the hands of all assembly members, and not only one parliamentary group. Reserved seats are another matter; this can be arranged by political parties. These are two separate problems,” Grabovci was quoted as saying.
