The commander of the German contingent in Kosovo, Colonel Siegfried Zeyer said that the situation in Kosovo, respectively, in the regions predominantly inhabited by Serbs, calm, but not stable.
“Currently there is a state of calm, but it is not stable. It was felt last time during the match Albania-Serbia in October. Dissatisfaction with the economic situation and ethnic tensions make the situation in those areas difficult to predict,” said Siegfried Zeyer for the German portal (bundeswehr.de), responding to a question about the situation in northern Kosovo, around Mitrovica and in south-western Kosovo.
When it comes to organized crime in Kosovo, Zeyer believes that it is now, as it was before, the big problem of Kosovo. Kosovo police and EULEX regularly conduct operations against organized crime, “often with modest success,” said Zeyer.
Speaking of the central themes and projects of the 39 Contingent in 2015, Zeyer said that he expects the reduction of troops and explained that this, however, depends on the development of the situation. He also emphasized that the Bundeswehr soldiers have, as before, a good reputation among the majority of Kosovo’s population and added that “in contrast to that, the mood of the people is not good … unemployment is over 50 per cent, among young people even higher. Average salary is about 300 euro. For many there is no visible progress…” said the colonel.
Speaking of cooperation with the Kosovo Security Force, Zeyer stressed that the cooperation is performed primarily with “Kosovo Security Force” (KSF) in the field of logistics.
