CONFERENCE IN GRACANICA: KOSOVO ARMY - TO WHOM AND WHAT FOR?

Kosovar Centre for Security Studies, today, on 24th of May 2017, in cooperation with New Social Initiative, has organized today the conference on the topic ”Kosovo Army: To whom and What for ?” in Gracanica.

This Conference was organized in the framework of KCSS activities for the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) into Kosovo Armed Forces in order to discuss this issue with the citizens of the Serb Community in Kosovo and to get acquainted with the attitudes of this community on this issue.

Panelists in this conference were:

- Mr. Florian Qehaja, Executive Director, KCSS

- Mr. Nenad Maksimovic, Center for Peace and Tolerance

- Mr. Aca Mitic, New, Social Initiative.

Considering that the transformation of the KSF into the future Army of Kosovo through legal changes has been faced by the international community, who have demanded that the process has to be made through constitutional changes, also in this conference were presented different attitudes regarding the establishment of the Kosovo Army.

KCSS Executive Director, Florian Qehaja, said that despite the different opinions and positions on this topic should be discussed openly, to know what is the position of all parties in this process, including the citizens of the Serb Community in Kosovo. The aim is to create a security institution and KCSS advocates that the army must be multiethnic. Based on an evaluation, the KSF is ready to complete the quota of ethnic representation which is expected to be around 10 percent. But we do not only advocate for quotas but also conditions for minorities with the opportunity to take part in training abroad and to advance career within the KSF”, said Qehaja.

He has mentioned the arguments why the army should be established, emphasizing that KFOR will not stay forever in Kosovo. For this reason, there is a need to replace KFOR's role with the Kosovo army, though it will take up to ten years to get full capacity. Another additional argument is the development of local ownership, respectvility Kosovar citizens should become security owners in order not to be just consumers of security from others. This, of course, must be done in a inclusive way with the participation of all communities, because the military is an important element of every state and Kosovo in this regard aims to join the EU and NATO where can contribute by participating in different peacekeeping missions.

In this discussion it was mentioned that the transformation of the KSF should not be seen in a conventional and political way because the Kosovo army will gradually be built with defensive capabilities and light weapons, but with no purpose of offensive. Whereas, for the latest KSF transformation initiative through legal changes, it was found that the debate with the Serbian community in Kosovo was not exhausted and that this should be done by taking into account the suggestions of the international community, espacilality the EU, NATO and the United States. Furthermore, Qehaja added that the formation of the Kosovo Armed Forces should be done through bilateral cooperation with the US, Great Britain, Germany and other countries. So, it is necessary to discuss with representatives of the Serb community in order to hear their requests and to obtain their consent regarding the transformation process of the KSF.

On the other hand, the representative of the Center for Peace and Tolerance, Nenad Maksimović, has expressed that Serbs in Kosovo have no benefit from the establishment of the Kosovo Army, by emphasizing that the perception of the majority of Kosovo Serbs is that they do not feel safe in Kosovo. According to him, there are no arguments that would convince the Serbs to give their consent regarding the transformation of the KSF into the army. He said there is no argument that Kosovo's army should be established because of a possible attack by Serbia in Kosovo. "In Kosovo we are responsible for security for KFOR or NATO. There is no theoretical possibility that the Serbian army can pass into the territory of Kosovo without the prior approval of NATO or fights with NATO. The argument that Serbia could jeopardize Kosovo is not based on reality, "Maksimović said.

He has considered that the Serbian army is not as it has been in the past and the trend shows it is declining and weakening. Regarding Kosovo's internal affairs, Maksimović shared the view that Kosovo's institutions are dealing with major topics such as the transformation of the KSF leaving in the second plan economic development, the well-being of citizens and the rule of law. In this regard, he expressed that building the army could cost much to the Kosovo budget and instead, according to him, it is better to strengthen existing institutions than to invest in the army.

KCSS will continue to organize public debates with citizens and civil society of the Serb community in Kosovo regarding the transformation of the KSF. In this conference has been participated Representatives of foreign embassies accredited in Kosovo, representatives of KFOR, civil society, media and security experts.