Yesterday he drove a combine harvester, today he gazes at Turkish Bayraktar drones in wonder.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced that the Kosovo Security Forces, which he referred to as the Kosovo Army, have acquired Turkish-made Bayraktar drones. The Kosovo government purchased the TB-2 drones from Turkey. Kurti did not reveal the number of drones that were purchased.
„With the commander of the KSF, Lt. Gen. Bashkim Jashari and the Minister of Defense Armend Mehaj, we congratulated the officers who completed the training on the use of drones,“ said Kurti.
Aleksandar Vucic announced last month that the KSF is acquiring Turkish Bayraktar drones.
Despite often presenting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as his friend, the Serbian president said on Pink TV that Serbia refused to buy Turkish Bayraktar drones precisely because they were sent to the KSF.
At the time, Vucic stated that the entity known as the KSF, which Albanians „refer to as their army“ cannot be compared with the Serbian Army. That’s why he criticized „all those who act as if nothing is happening“.
On the other hand, he emphasized the need for Serbia to be cautious, because Turkey is equipping the KSF with military equipment, including grenade launchers, 105mm howitzers, armored vehicles and Bayraktar drones.
„These are all the things that the KSF has in its possession as of today We have to take that into account. NATO hasn’t allowed them to use Bayraktars yet, but they have tens of kilometers of visibility at night. We must be careful, we know what we are doing. We must have adequate means to react if our people are threatened. These are not stories and fairy tales, the world has changed,“ Vucic warned on June 25th from the Pink TV studio.
Moreover, he also recalled that the Turkish contingent of KFOR is currently deployed in the north, while „idle tongues“ are talking about the creation of the so-called Green Transverse, a connection between Albanians and Novi Pazar.
Although noting that he does not believe in conspiracy theories, he added that 1 out of 1000 come true.
In the meantime, Kurti continues to boast about the results of the so-called transformation period of the KSF into the Kosovo Army.
„In two years in power, we increased the number of soldiers by over 80%, and the army budget by over 100%. Kosovo is now safer than ever and proud!“
What is the current situation?
Background informarion
During the past year, 820 members and 30 cadets were recruited into the Kosovo Security Forces, and the recruitment of 612 active and 388 reserve members is ongoing, as announced by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in January this year.
KSF also has a small number of members from the Kosovo Serb community, primarily from the south. Of the 137 Serbs who became members of the KSF a few years ago, around 50 of them left the force in 2018, and more than 70 over the following year, according to available data. The last time Kosovo Serbs left the KSF was during last year’s barricades.
The President of Serbia has repeatedly called on Serbs from Kosovo not to enlist in the KSF.
According to several reports, Serbian KSF members were pressured to leave this service.
The process of transforming the KSF into, as it is presented to the Kosovo public, the Kosovo army, began in December 2018 with the adoption of a set of three laws – the Law on the Rules of Service of the KSF Members, the Law on the Transformation of the Ministry of the KSF into the Ministry of Defense and the Law on the Transformation of the KSF into the Armed Forces Kosovo. At that time, Srpska Lista failed to take advantage of the legal deadline to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court, despite announcements that it would do so. Although, the party said that they would stand „bare-handed“ in front of the people to „defend“ them.
The laws were passed in order to avoid the fact that the necessary majority was not obtained in the assembly to change the mandate of the KSF, which could only be done by amending the constitution. For any amendment of issues that are of special/sensitive interest, 2/3 of the votes of all MPs of the Kosovo Assembly are required and at the same time 2/3 of the votes of all representatives of non-majority communities, of which there are 20 in the Kosovo Assembly.
Although NATO does not formally support the transformation of the KSF into an army, reacting negatively to these laws, member states of the Alliance, such as the US, have so far had a different reaction.
„The U.S fully supports KSF’s comprehensive transition into a multi-ethnic, professional, NATO-interoperable territorial defense force,“ US Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier said.
KFOR, which Turkey recently joined, renewed cooperation with the Kosovo Security Forces in order to help, as they stated, in civil protection operations.
As part of the new defense strategy, the Kosovo government committed to a single chain of command for the Security Forces operating throughout the territory of Kosovo, including the north.
„However, this determination expressed in the Defense Strategy documents was not preceded by an effort to change the agreement with NATO, which stipulates that KSF can be deployed in the north only with the special permission of the KFOR commander. With all the documents approved by the government, NATO officials told Koha that the ban in this part is still valid,“ Koha wrote earlier this year
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