Stoltenberg's two disappointments with Kosovo: Army foundation, tax on Serbia

Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has expressed disappointment with Kosovo over two things. On Tuesday, he remained in Brussels at the NATO summit. Stoltenberg said from there he was disappointed with the December decision to establish the Kosovo Army, and second to the tax imposed on Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At the start of the Alliance's 29-nation defence ministers' summit, Stolettebrg has said the meeting will serve to see the manner of engagement with the KSF, but that the tax decision has disappointed many allies.

The “what we will evaluate are activities that are outside KFOR's mission and that is capacity building. We have made the decision, but we have made it clear that we will assess NATO's level of engagement, because some allies have said it is an inappropriate time for the KSF to transform into the army, and some allies are also disappointed with the” tax, Stoltebrg said.

What does not change, according to the NATO chief, is KFOR's mission, according to the UN resolution, which is to provide security for all citizens throughout the country, which cannot make local security forces without permission.

“We have clearly said that the security forces in Kosovo should respect international obligations, including agreements in Brussels, that they will not move to northern Kosovo without KFOR Commander permission and reconciliation. Of course, the issues will be on the table for discussion, but it is early to say exactly what decisions will be made”, Stoltenberg said.

U.S., as the main funder of NATO did not share its opinion with Stoltenberg about the military. American Ambassador Kay Baily Hutchison has said that NATO will support the development of the Kosovo Army, and that this does not relate to a bilateral issue such as the tax.

<x0) NATO will continue to work with the Government of Kosovo to create the armed forces so that it can include all communities and ensure that until it grows and strengthens itself to be the force of security in Kosovo. But we want Kosovo and Serbia to work together in normalising the reports, and when there are normalisation of the reports many issues in the respective states will be resolved, We want to have community rights that will be part of history that will be overcome and inclusive on both sides of the” border, Hutchison said.

Kosovo, is the small topic of discussion in relation to many issues that will be on the table. The main point is Russia's departure from the deal with the US on the anti-missile system.

It will also be Macedonia's first-time landing at a NATO summit, as a pending member, 30th consecutive of the world's largest military Alliance, Koha.net reports and broadcast Periscope.