Rama: For six months no Serb left KSF

Rama in an interview has indicated that he has not received any requests from KSF members, who are of the Serb community for release.

He has shown that the pressure on them is great, even saying, that a social networking campaign has already been launched against those in the KSF and their families.

“We have had a considerable number of Serbian citizens who were part of the KSF, who have been very well integrated and we have not had any problems. The problem has come from somewhere abroad, on the part of Serbia means, where they are pressured personally and their families, and are forced to apply for debilisation.

But there's also a significant number inside the institution, which despite the pressure they've had to survive and are in service, we have at the level of officers and NCOS”.

Systemic pressures to continue with family members, pressure through social media, presentation of them as traitor and publication of their family photos”

For six months we haven't had a request for demobilisation and there is no decision on release because they are carrying out responsibilities and obligations that have”, Rama has indicated.

And he hopes that members of the Serb community in the KSF will still be added.

Rama has invited them and all Kosovo citizens, who want to be part of the Kosovo Army, to apply in the new competition that has opened for recruiting new members, where 400 people will be admitted.

All those who meet the criteria and want to be in service to the country are open, without distinction, and I'm sure we will have applicants even from the Serb community, and then the selection process” begins, Rama said.

On December 14, 2018 The Kosovo Assembly had adopted bills to transform the KSF into the Kosovo Army.

And according to Rama, the transformation process is going according to the previous plan. So far it's been a good time and we've exceeded our expectations, or we've accomplished our long-term plan. The first “was primarily administrative changes. We have also given importance to development of education in a professional sense and new equipment, I can say that this first year we have exceeded our” expectations, Rama said.

With budget revision, for next year KSF is downsized. But according to Rama, this will not affect the military's development plans, as budget changes have mainly been in goods and services and some infrastructure projects that will be carried out for years to come.

“We have after several cuts in several projects, such as goods and services, which are important , but we have found the method for projects to be carried even next year, always considering the promise of Prime Minister and Finance Minister, that the future is to have additional budgetary support, mainly goods and some infrastructure projects, but that have nothing to do with the development of capacity “, it is expressed.

According to General Rama, this has happened because of the serious economic situation the country is going through, following the situation created by the pandemic. He has said that many other states have reduced the budget for their military due to the economic crisis.