EXAMINING NATO’S RESPONSE: WHAT KIND OF PARTNERSHIP WITH KOSOVO?

In 2017, NATO will start some form of cooperation with Kosovo. This was presented in an ambiguous letter, which was sent to Kosovo’s Prime Minister by NATO Secretary General in December 2016. The letter stated the formal commencement of Kosovo’s accession into some NATO’s programmes by balancing the existing mandate of KFOR/NATO presence with the need for gradual accession of Kosovo into NATO’s programmes. In other words, NATO already designed a framework of cooperation by enabling Kosovo’s involvement in certain programmes of the Alliance for state and nonstate institutions of Kosovo by marking for the first time Kosovo’s participation in NATO’s programmes and tools.

This policy brief aims to examine the Kosovo Government demands’ addressed to NATO’s highest political level as well as the response from NATO. However, the challenges remain due to rejection of four NATO member countries to recognize Kosovo’s statehood and neutral status approach of NATO towards Kosovo’s statehood. With a view to better understanding of NATO’s offered programmes to Kosovo, the paper will analyse each of the programmes indicated in the letter in order to provide an audience with better understanding of the prospective cooperation.