Major General Union Jashari, new KSF commander

From well-informed sources within the KSF, Albanian Post has learned that Tuesday morning Lieutenant General Rama has signed the resignation letter.

The same sources have confirmed it. AP that Major General Union Jashari will be his successor at the head of the Kosovo Army.

“Rrahman Rama is now in the office of Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, along with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the new KSF commander, Union Jashari”, says a source within the Defence Ministry.

How did it get to the resignation?

Disagreements between the KSF commander and the defence minister have reached a critical point on 18 September, two nights ahead of the Kosovo Police action to impose reciprocity for plates with Serbia.

On the evening of September 18th, Minister Mehej has ordered the command of the Kosovo Security Force to paint four military armoured vehicles M1117. ASV, property of the blue KSF, with the reasoning that they would be used in support of police action in the country's north.

KSF Commander Lieutenant General Nundman Rama has flatly rejected such a request, as agreement with the United States Government clearly requires that KSF be the last user of any military equipment he has received in assistance from the Department of Defence.

Even the request that Minister Mehej sends to the US Embassy in Kosovo to allow the use of those armoured vehicles in the police operation is received negative answers.

After this refusal, Minister Mehaj requires the use of six armoured vehicles Otokcar Cobra, which the Kosovo Security Force has been given as assistance from Turkey and with the same provision, under which the KSF is their last users.

Even this requirement, in the form of a warrant, has been referring to the agreement, refused to meet Lieutenant General Rama. These have caused reports between the KSF commander and the defence minister to be greatly destroyed. And the result has been his dismissal procedure.

Albanian Post teaches that the main candidates to take over the post of Kosovo Security Force Commander, after the dismissal of Lieutenant General Tman Rama, are Inspector General of the Kosovo Security Force, General Union Jashari and Major General Guzim Hazrolli, invited, without any explanation of what quality -- as a witness or suspect -- from the Special Court in June 2020.

From sources within the Kosovo Security Force, it is found that the most likely chance to be confirmed as KSF commander has Major General Hazrolli, since Major General Jashar may not get approval from the United States, nor from President Vjosa Osmani.

What happened on September 18th, and why did the United States give the government diplomatic marks on KSF's weapons?

“Get four ASV and dye them in blue”. This was Defence Minister Armend Mehaj's order, on the informal road, for command of the Kosovo Security Force, two nights before the operation of the Kosovo Special Police Units for placing reciprocity for license plates at border points with Serbia. Minister Mehaj's goal was that M1117 military vehicles ASV, which the KSF has been given as part of military assistance from the United States, was used to help police operation in the country's north.

From sources within the KSF, Albanian Post has learned that Minister Mehaj's order has been rejected and rejected by the Kosovo Security Force Commander Lieutenant General Xhaman Rama, with the reasoning that in the agreement signed with the United States Government, Kosovo Security Force is provided to be the last users of those parties. Consequently, none of the equipment for which the KSF has contracts with the United States Government can be used, replaced or sold without approval. However, when the minister has insisted again, he has been suggested to speak with the US Embassy in Pristina.

Back on unofficial roads, as his request has been rejected by KSF commander, Minister Mehej has addressed the US Embassy in Pristina. Through an SMS sent to the embassy's military attaché, Colonel Stephen Rose, he has requested that request be approved for the use of four M1117 armoured vehicles. ASVUHAMER Security Vehycle, in support of the police operation that was to be conducted the next day in the north of the country.

Even the military attaché has responded negatively to Minister Meheha's request, reminding him that the KSF is the last user of those tools and that this cannot be changed without a preliminary agreement with the United States Government. While, from well-known sources with development, Albanian Post has learned that Colonel Stephen Rose's attaché has also expressed disappointment with the way the request was presented by Minister Mehej.

Minister Mehaj's request has been conveyed with concern by the highest instance of the American Department of Defence, which on the other hand have thanked the leadership of the Kosovo Security Force commander, Lieutenant General Nundman Rama. Albanian Post, from sources within the KSF, has learned that in the talks that were then made, the Pentagon has made clear to the KSF command that, if Minister Mehej's request had been accepted, it would have been considered a serious violation of signed agreements and all weapons would have been withdrawn.

The seriousness of the situation was confirmed last Thursday, when, through a diplomatic note from the Embassy in Pristina, the US has demanded that the Government of Kosovo pledge, through agreement, that the equipment that has been given to the Kosovo Security Force by the United States Government and that is defined in the contract The KSF as the last users will not be provided any other security organisation.

In the diplomatic note, published in the media last week, “Ambada states that the United States Government and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo agree that, without the consent of the United States of America, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo will not provide any assistance provided by the United States of America according to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act or the Act for Arms Export Control, or subsequent legislation, no one of the security of the Republic of Kosovo, for which the United States Government has made clear to the Republic of Kosovo that it has banned such assistance under the 620M Foreign Assistance section of the country, the 1961 Law of the United States, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Italy, and the United States.

On this diplomatic note, Albanian Post has requested the position of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defence, but has received no answers to the questions asked. Meanwhile, the US Embassy has refused to comment, but without denying or confirming its authenticity or its contents. The embassy has also refused to comment on whether diplomatic notes relate to the Leahy Law, or to standard procedures related to the transfer of US-sponsored military aid to an entity, to a third party.

What does Leahy Law say, and what are the transfer procedures to the third party?

The Leahy law refers to two statuteic provisions banning the U.S. government from using funds to help units of security forces of other states, when there is reliable information linking those units to serious human rights violations. One statuteic provision is linked to the State Department, while the other to the Department of Defence. State Department's Leahy law relates to the 620M Foreign Assistance Act section of 1961, 22 U.S.C. 2378. At its point (a) it says that “no assistance will be provided based on this Act or that for arms Export Control, for any foreign state security unit, if the state secretary has reliable information that that entity has committed serious human rights violations”. The U.S. government, grave human rights violations, considers torture, murder without trial, violence and violence. Next section, it's connected to the Department of Defense, which the Leahy Law is permanent under Section 362, Article 10 of the United States Code. According to her, funds allocated by the Department of Defence are prohibited from being used for training, equipment or other forms of aid to entities that have committed serious human rights violations.

Regarding these provisions, Albanian Post has sent questions to the US Embassy in Kosovo, if there are doubts that Kosovo Police or its entities have committed serious human rights violations, but has not received answers. However, one of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act provisions, section 620, says military assistance from the U.S. Government cannot be provided for units that have not gone through the self-defence process as a whole and each individual in particular.

Meanwhile, the transfer procedures provided by the United States government to a third party require the beneficiary of that assistance, to be directed and given written consent by the State Department that it is allowed to change the part of the deal under which he is the last user, based on the Act for Foreign Assistance and the Act on Gun Export Control.