As announced by the Kosovo Foreign Ministry in a meeting with the US Under Secretary of Defence, Evelyn Farkas, this year will be decisive for the transformation of Kosovo Security Forces in the army.
Belgrade pointed out that the formation of the Kosovo Army is contrary to the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and it will not help improving the security of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, or stability in the region.
‘Hot potato’ in the hands of Serbian representatives in the Kosovo government will undoubtedly be forming of the so-called Army of Kosovo, the issue posed by their coalition partners Isa Mustafa and Hashim Thaci. According to Branimir Stojanovic, Deputy Prime Minister of the provisional institutions, the address on which will be discussed the issue is - Brussels.
Commander of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF), lieutenant-general Kadri Kastrati, met with NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Marriet Schuurman, Koha reports. Schuurman stated that NATO will encourage the Kosovo institutions in the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325.
Kosovo’s new parliament will vote to transform the security forces into an army as soon as it starts work next month, a senior official said.
"I believe that one of the first decisions of the Kosovo Assembly will be the formalisation of the armed forces of Kosovo,” Agim Ceku, Kosovo’s Security Forces Minister, told the Epoka e Re daily newspaper on Thursday.
“I strongly believe this project will be accomplished because it is a national project of high importance for the country and its citizens," Ceku said.
Agim Qeku, Kosovo Minister of Security Forces (KSF) announced a rapid transformation of KSF in the Kosovo Armed Forces, immediately after the inauguration of the new Kosovo parliament. However, the Law can be passed only if two-thirds majority in the parliament as well at least two thirds of the members of minorities support it. Half of minority MPs are Serbs, which means that some of them should vote for the proposal. But, Serbian MPs deny such a possibility.
The transformation of the Kosovo Security Forces into the Army of Kosovo has no other alternative now. The new parliament of Kosovo will vote the formation of Armed Forces immediately after it’s constituted.
This was said by institutional and military leaders on Wednesday in the manifestation held in the “Adem Jashari” barracks in Pristina, on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the formation of Kosovo’s Security Force.
Kosovo Security Force (KSF) Commander, Kadri Kastrati, said the KSF is ready to be transformed into Kosovo Armed Forces. In a ceremony for marking the “Force Day”, Kastrati said that KSF is the most trusted institution in Kosovo. “This fact makes us proud but also obliges us to maintain this trust”, he said.