KSF month-on-March peacekeeping mission with American Army

The Kosovo Security Force in spring this year is expected to join American soldiers in peacekeeping missions. The agreements have been reached and only administrative procedures remain until the KSF for the first time will participate in a peacekeeping mission. This confirms the KSF commander, who among other things says the military needs more budget to complete the transformation process. Lieutenant General Gjundman Rama also speaks of the pressure Serbia is continuing to exercise on Serb members of the KSF, despite which they are continuing service in Force.

During yesterday's day, the Government of Kosovo approved the decision to co-Send the Kosovo Security Force contingent on missions abroad with the Iowa National Guard. This decision will proceed with the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo proposal for sending the KSF contingent to missions for support of regional stability and peacekeeping operations under the US Central Command.

A symbolic number of members of the Kosovo Security Force, along with the Iowa National Guard, are expected to be part of a global peacekeeping mission in March.

The KSF will participate for the first time in a peacekeeping mission, after which members of the Force are expected to participate in other global peacekeeping missions.

The “will become very quickly reality that we will be part of the peacekeeping mission jointly with the National Guard of Iowa, we are now in the process of completing administrative affairs that are agreements with the state that will be on a joint mission. We've made arrangements with the United States of America, are the administrative procedures we need in the future, because it counts a peacekeeping mission, no matter how symbolic and limited numbers of officers and non-commission officers that will be, but we will have a symbolic number, but it's very important for the institution but also for the country itself, for the first time we will have our members giving their contribution to peacekeeping missions<1>, Rama says.

The KSF has completed its first phase of transition, while now beginning the second, which is related to building new capacities that are these for protecting the country's integrity and sovereignty.

The “Tope priority are these two units, for building training capacities based on new mandates and missions, and at the same time, the first regiment for the Certificate of the first capabilities to be based on NATO standards”, Rama says.

The KSF commander says the second phase of transition will be more complex and the same requires greater financial support.

We have planned for each year to have 5.5 million growth in the budget, and this is a financial statement that is on the part of the state and the Government, that we need to understand, this transitional plan is approved by the Government, and we as an institution are obliged to implement this goal and that obligation we have and it depends entirely on the support we will have, whether in the financial sense we need it from other institutions, and we have to make those commitments <181>, he says.

However, General Rama says contracting the budget for the military that took place in the past year has not prevented them from moving ahead with the previous plan, stressing here the support they have received from the partners.

As Kosova Prees learns, there are about three Serb members who have left the Kosovo Security Force this year.

And in this interview, the Force Commander says the number of fugitives has been evidently smaller than in previous years, but as he emphasises, pressure from Belgrade is continuing.

We haven't had a lot of evacuations this year, we've had a certain number. It's much smaller than the past years, despite the pressures they've managed to survive and are surviving those pressures and we're supporting them with that possibility and capacity, but we can't influence statements or pressures coming from abroad... The pressure unfortunately continues, a kind of systematic pressure on members of the KSF, has changed a little strategy, now even through social networks are making some sort of pressure not only on them but also on their families”, the KSF commander says.

The KSF commander says that in terms of this problem, NATO has also been addressed, demanding that through diplomatic channels seek Serbia to stop pressure on KSF members.

After the process of selection and basic training, in the second half of this year, The KSF is expected to take place with 400 new soldiers.

Among the applicants is a number of minority communities who, under the criteria, will be part of the KSF.