Enver Robelli writes today in his opinion piece that Hashim Thaci’s and his dependents’ concerns, are not Kosovo’s concerns, therefore Pristina should coordinate with NATO, the U.S. and the EU with regards to the creation of the army.
It has been confirmed in a telephone conversation between the Serbian PM and the NATO chief that the military alliance opposes the formation of a Kosovo army.
Serbia's state broadcaster RTS reported this late on Wednesday.
Jens Stoltenberg also told Aleksandar Vucic that NATO had officially warned Pristina that the organization is opposed to the formation of an army in Kosovo, something announced in recent days by Kosovo President Hashim Thaci.
NATO and the United States warned Wednesday they could scale back cooperation with Kosovo's security services if the government goes ahead with plans to transform its lightly-armed security force into an army without the required constitutional changes.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he told Kosovo's leaders by telephone "that unilateral steps such as these are unhelpful." He warned that if Kosovo goes ahead as planned "NATO will have to review its level of commitment, particularly in terms of capacity-building."
The United States said Wednesday that it was "concerned" by Kosovo's plans to convert its security force into a regular army without a constitutional amendment — a move sure to infuriate Serbia.
"We support the gradual transparent transformation of the Kosovo Security Force into a multiethnic force in line with NATO standards," a statement from the embassy in Pristina said.
http://www.voanews.com/a/nato-us-warn-kosovo-against-move-to-form-army/3755434.html
Kosovar President Hashim Thaci says there is "no turning back" from his plan to transform the Balkan country's lightly armed security force into a national army, brushing off strongly voiced concern from NATO and the United States.
The security force "will be transformed into a Kosovo army," Thaci told RFE/RL on March 8, seeming to dismiss warnings from the U.S. Embassy and the Western military alliance against making the change without amending the constitution.
RTS reports today that Vučić has said at a press conference in Kopaonik, when asked about last night's phone conversation with Thaçi that they did not agree on key issues, notably the formation of the Kosovo army which as he said violates the Resolution 1244 but also was contrary to the Kosovo's constitution. He pointed that he expected help of the EU, US and Russia and said that those were big things for someone to play with.
Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci did not confirm that Kosovo enjoys international support, especially from the United States of America, to amend the law on the Kosovo Security Force which would give the latter the competencies of an army. Thaci told the Voice of America that the U.S. and the international community support the transformation of the KSF into an army through constitutional amendments. “I have been working for three years now to address the matter through constitutional amendments and I would very much like for this to happen.
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.
British historian, reporter and publicist, James Pettifer, wrote on his Twitter account today that Kosovo President Hashim Thaci’s decision to undertake all necessary actions for transforming the Kosovo Security Force into the Kosovo Armed Forces will help regional stability. “Good. A long overdue move which will help regional stability,” Pettifer tweeted.
Vetevendosje has come out against President Hashim Thaci’s idea to create an armed force by changing the current law on the Kosovo Security Force (KSF). Vetevendosje deputy leader, Driton Caushi, said Thaci has failed to deliver on all his promises, and the latest one will be no different. “We have continuously supported the formation of the Kosovo Armed Forces by changing the Constitution,” Caushi said.