LOCAL OWNERSHIP AND INTERAGENCY COORDINATION AND COOPERATION IN KOSOVO

Kosovar Center for Security Studies (KCSS) today, on 2 nd November 2017, organized the conference on the topic “Local Ownership and Interagency Coordination and Cooperation in Kosovo” with focus on the role of the international community in the security sector in Kosovo and the development of local ownership within the security institutions in the country.

This is the first conference that KCSS organizes in Prishtina as a part of the PeaceTraining.eu project which is a part of the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program. Furthermore, KCSS as a research institute specialized in the security sector is a partner of this project alongside universities, organizations civil society and public institutions of different countries of Europe.

The discussion was held in two panels for international administration in Kosovo, with emphasis on the establishment of security institutions during 1999-2008 period, the contribution of the international missions in Kosovo and the development of the concept of local ownership in security institutions from 2008 to present. One of the key conclusions of the conference was that reforms in the security sector in Kosovo remain challenging as a result of the failure to implement the recommendations derived from the Analysis of the Strategic Review of Security Sector in Kosovo.

Invited as panelists in this conference were prominent representatives who have contributed in various forms to security sector in Kosovo: Mr. Ismail Smakiqi – Executive Director of Kosovo Academy for Public Safety; Colonel Rui Esteves – KFOR; Ms. Garentina Kraja – Security Expert; Rexhep Selimi - Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Internal Affairs and Security of the Kosovo Assembly and Pëllumb Kallaba – Security Expert.

This conference gathered representatives of the security institutions of Kosovo, international missions in Kosovo and security experts. The conference was also attended by representatives from KU Leuven University in Belgium and The Institute for Conflict Research (ICR) of Northern Ireland, who also are partners of this project.