The Kosovo parliament is set to adopt three new laws which will mark the start of the formation of a fully-fledged military - the Law on the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF), Law on the Defence Ministry and Law on Service in the KSF - but their adoption does not mean that the KSF will immediately be transformed into an army.
The announced move has drawn criticism and condemnation. NATO officials and member states feel that the timing is not right and that the whole thing had to have been done by amending the constitution of Kosovo while Serbian officials claim that an army under Pristina’s control will endanger the Kosovo Serbs.
Speaking to the Serbian state TV (RTS) hours before the vote in Kosovo’s parliament, two ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) MPs said the future military will be an illegal formation which is being created in violation of international law with the support of the United States and leading NATO members.
Milovan Drecun MP, who heads the Serbian parliament’s Kosovo committee, said that the decision to form an army is the final stage of what he said is the legalization of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which was formally disbanded and disarmed by KFOR under UN Security Council resolution 1244.
Drecun said the Kosovo Albanians won’t undertake any serious operations but warned that that the new formation could be used against the Serbs since they will be given the mandate to provide support to the civilian authorities and could be used to take control of northern Kosovo.
His fellow MP Miroslav Lazanski, a columnist and military analyst for Belgrade daily Politika, said the transformation of the KSF is exactly what had been announced and what the Americans sponsored and approved.
He agreed with Drecun’s assessment that this runs counter to international law, adding that under UNSC resolution 1244 the only military formation in Kosovo is KFOR.
Journalist and foreign policy commentator Milan Misic told N1 that the forming of a Kosovo military evidently has the support of the great powers, headed by the US.
“Belgrade seems to have been left out of the latest developments. This is not about one thing. We have the trade blockade of goods from Serbia and a serious break in the negotiation process,” he said.
According to Misic, the forming of a military means that Kosovo’s independence is being rounded off in a process which will take years to complete. “The size of the Kosovo armed forces is not being increased nor is their equipment even though we can see a symbolic gesture of support in the gifts from America,” he said.
Misic believes that the renaming of the existing KSF means that a roundabout path has been chosen because the forming of an army requires constitutional approval and the agreement of minorities, especially the Serbs.
“Pristina is heading towards the goals it has set and has secured allies for its efforts while Belgrade is trying to calm the situation. What everyone is asking of us, why they are pressuring Kosovo and us, is to prevent this from escalating into an armed conflict,” Misic said.
