Uninterested Kosovo joins arm race

Kosovo authorities have said the future Army will not be equipped with heavy weapons, but only with that defence.

Deputy acting minister in the Defence Ministry, Burim Ramadani, told Radio and Free Europe that the KSF's transformation into the Army is continuing according to plan.

He said the actions of security institutions in Kosovo do not depend on Serbia's recent actions, which have increased the amount of weapons purchased by Russia.

Ramadani said Kosovo has its own plan with strategic partners and that transformation is continuing in building operational capacities.

The construction of Kosovo's security institutions is not reactive construction, but is building the consolidation of the state of Kosovo. So far, development of processes, building the military mandate is in line with the plan and as such, this is a very big priority for Kosovo”, Ramadani said.

Serbia's arming, mainly in the past two years, with different arms contingents from Russia, should be of concern, not only for Kosovo, but also for the region, whose countries are either part of the NATO alliance or have the presence of this alliance, estimates Plator Avdiu, researchers at the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies.

Avdiu told Radio Free Europe that Serbia is running an arms race in the Balkans, armed by Russia.

This weapons race being seen in the region, especially Serbia doing it. This race should be seen in several dimensions. Under one is that Serbia or Russia through Serbia wants to show some kind of primacy in relation to international organisations, especially with NATO, which now has a very increased presence in the Balkans”, Avdiu said.

Through this arming, according to Avdiu, Serbia is trying to keep the Balkans under pressure at all times.

So showing a very high dependence on Russia. On the other hand, Serbia's intentions are known, so that through Russia it can try to destabilise the Balkan region and keep it always under pressure. Of course, passing the laws on the Army in December of last year is a major impetus for Serbia, so that even further efforts to show its strength by receiving weapons from Russia”, Avdiu said.

During this year, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, after attending the accession ceremony of ten armoured vehicles from Russia, said that by the end of the year the Russian state will send other weapons to Serbia, which have already been bought or donated.

Kosovo, respectively, has been equipped with 24 military vehicles called “Humvee”, which have come from the United States of America.

In December 2018, Kosovo's Assembly adopted legal changes to change the mandate of the Kosovo Security Force (FSK).

The KSF's new responsibilities concern preserving sovereignty and territorial integrity, citizens, property and interests of the Republic of Kosovo, as well as military support for civil authorities and participation in international operations.