In a meeting with Kosovo Assembly President Kadri Veseli today, President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci officially presented the draft law for transformation of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) into an armed force.

In a joint press conference after the meeting, Thaci said Kosovo cannot afford to leave its fate in “anyone’s mercy” and Kosovo army would be a necessary step for protection of territorial sovereignty and regional peace and stability. “As president I would have liked the transformation to have happened the way we have tried for three years, through a transparent process. However, we were unable to achieve this because Serb MPs made it clear they would never vote for changes to create armed forces,” Thaci said.

He noted that the KSF transformation would not affect KFOR’s competencies or its mandate. As to the name of the force, KSF would retain the current one. “Content is much more important to me than the name,” Thaci added.

Veseli on his part said he will call a meeting of the Assembly presidency tomorrow and process further the draft law. “Through this transformation, Kosovo will no longer be a consumer of peace in the region but a contributor,” Veseli said at the press conference.